Magic in Nerima!
by Author Roy
Summary: A manga fan from this world is once again killed for the sake of sticking his soul into an important role of his favorite manga so that he can “fix” it. How is Nerima going to deal with this new addition of insanity? By responding in kind, of course!
1. Prologue Rv1

Forward

--

I was lazing around one day, contemplating my newest plot for with which to take over the world, when I found my thoughts wandering to the topic of my own repertoire of works when I realized that the only cohesive story I'd ever written to that point was _Total Shock_. Upon realizing this, I tried to imagine a few storylines for the characters of Ranma 1/2 separate of _Total Shock_. This is more or less a practice run, to help me on my flaws (I'm well aware of those by the way).

EDIT: Now with slight revisions, as of August 7, 2008!

--

Summary:

A manga/anime fan from this world is once again killed for the sake of sticking his soul into some an important role of his favorite manga so that he can "fix" it. How is Nerima going to deal with this new addition of insanity? By responding in kind, of course…

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise. Any events, places, or people resembling real life events, places, or people are coincidental, and if you think I went out and scoped out a particular thing to copy you're insane.

--

Prologue

--

Brian knew only the sensation of weightlessness as he fell towards the rapids at the bottom of a waterfall. His father had taken the entire family out camping to some remote forest, and they were out on what his father had called a 'pleasure hike'. He'd been warned to be careful; after all, the dangers they faced were very real, but Brian was not really one to respect nature. As a person who believed in only himself, nature was just another one of those things beneath his notice.

Walking across what appeared to be a shallow stream of violently rushing water, Brian slipped and fell on one of the slippery rocks. He was almost instantly gone from the group, and the fact that he wasn't the best swimmer did not help at all. There were no stray trees that bent over in an oh-so convenient way, no stray logs to climb upon and try to reach the land. So of course, when the river pulled him towards it's outlet that happened to be a steep enough waterfall to warrant the words _extremely dangerous_, he did all he could.

He fell.

Well, he screamed like a sissy too, but that was beside the point.

It was confusing beyond words to him. His own mortality had been something that he'd tried to ignore as much as possible when alive, but it was very hard to ignore the fact that you were made of the same flesh and bones as every other living human on the planet when you were screaming towards your death. That whatever higher forms of life saw fit to end his life before it could truly start was one of the most unfair things he could imagine happening. It had, however, and death was something that no amount of intelligence or accomplishments could prevent, at least, not those as petty as his.

That had been at least an hour ago.

Now, however, he was surrounded by an unfamiliar blackness and there was an odd sensation around his entire body. It was…warm and…very wet.

'This can't be death,' He thought to himself for the nth time. 'I mean, death is always described as being cold and dark.' He tried to look around but wasn't able to do much. 'This just feels weird. There's no pain or anything. Huh, and this is what so many people are afraid of? How pathetic,' He slowly became more aware of the annoying, incessant wailing of an infant. 'Took a while to figure it out.' He opened his eyes, wondering why the gods had deemed his own personal hell that of a baby's eternal wails when he realized just where he was.

He was staring up at a gigantic face that had an oddly familiar mask covering it's lower half. He was mildly aware of some voices around him but could not make most of it out because of the child's crying. A hint of surprise overcame him and a quick glance around the room told him all he needed to know.

'_Oh shit.' _He looked around a few more times in confusion. _'This better not be what I think it is,'_ He thought angrily. Unfortunately, another quick glance around the room and the way he knew he was being handled he knew it wasn't something in his power to fight.

--

Five years later…

--

Ranko sighed at her twin brother, watching him perform a kata that she knew some dedicated martial artists would be hard-pressed to follow. It was understandable, however; their father had reached levels far beyond the fanatical when it came to martial arts. Her mother just as much in tradition.

Nodoka had decided that she, Ranko, would uphold family honor and become the traditional docile wife(or so it seemed). She was practically forbidden from learning the art; whenever she showed interest in the art, her mother would try to distract her with something she thought a girl her age would find more interesting. Truth be told, a girl physically her age most likely _would_ have been more interested in such things, but Ranko was anything but your usual five year old girl.

She did not want to be a cause for concern, however; she was a child, and as a child she had very little control over her own immediate future. She had long ago realized that there would be no way she could ever accompany Ranma on his trip. Not that she'd be missing much, though.

"I'll take years of feminine grooming over a pit of starving cats and a water based shape shifting curse any day, thank you very much." She shuddered.

--

Another five years pass…

--

The now ten-year-old Saotome Ranko was on her way home from her all-girls school. She easily excelled at all classes except Japanese and History so she could easily deal with most of the classes, but that was only to be expected.

She knew that life with Ranma would only get interesting after he returned and she felt there had to be something she herself could do to add to it. It was somewhat a recurring thought that she had started having when she realized just _how_ strong the martial artists of Nerima really were(or would be, anyway). She had enough basic instruction in the art from what she could remember of seeing Ranma and her father practice.

'No way in hell am I just going to waste around as a background character like Kasumi. So what can I do?' She was walking in contemplative silence when she collided with someone, nearly falling over. She blinked and without even glancing up at the person she'd run into, she muttered a quick apology before turning to walk around them.

"Oh my," Said a familiar voice. Ranko froze immediately when she heard the man speak. "Excuse me, little girl. Have we met before?" The young girl trembled and turned around to stare at the man.

Ranko's jaw nearly dropped as her eyes took in the man's profile. The very first thing she noticed was the odd shade of hair color he had – it was _purple_ and fell around the side of his face, but was cut short at his forehead. He looked fairly young, a bit slim and wearing a fine gray business suit with a vertically striped tie. His eyes were closed but she knew what color they would be if she could see them; purple.

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" He asked, his eyes opening to dangerous looking slits.

"Xe…Xell…" She stuttered for a second before forming the entire word. "Xellos…" Ranko's eye twitched and she turned away, a look of confusion on her face. 'What the HELL is he doing here? This is…not even the right setting…' A dangerous smile crept onto his face as his eyes bore into her.

"Oh my, but it would appear that we _have_ met before…" He took a step towards Ranko, and she instinctively took a step back. He chuckled. "Oh, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you, little girl."

"Wh…What do you want with me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Ah, I believe you know the answer to that," He said with a mischievous smile.

"So it's a secret then," She snorted, trying to sound brave.

"Bingo!" He smirked.

"So then…I'll…see you later, I guess?" She slowly turned away, cautious of the being standing within a few feet of her. 'As if I could do anything to him if he wanted to hurt me,' She thought. He merely chuckled, and when she turned back to look at him in annoyance, he was gone. She shrugged and blinked in surprise at what was before her.

"It's… a magic store." Ranko looked around and realized she wasn't in the neighborhood she'd been in before, but she _did_ know where she was. "Why didn't I ever notice it before?" The girl smirked as she walked inside, feeling fairly confident about the far future.

-

"I should still supplement this with martial arts, though." Ranko grunted, trying to make her backpack, which weighed twice as much as it had when she'd gone in. 'At the very least, I can get up to where Akane was in the beginning,' She thought as she walked into her house before leaving her shoes at the entrance. She huffed and started towards her room, but blinked when she heard the voices of her mother and another person talking. After leaving the heavy bag in her room, she walked back to the dining room and spotted Xellos and Nodoka in mid conversation. She eyed the large "Seppuku" wall scroll rather warily (like she always did) before making her presence known.

"Ah, excuse me…"

"Oh, Ranko," Nodoka motioned for the girl to join them. "This is—"

"Xellos." Ranko frowned at him. Her mother looked slightly annoyed at being interrupted but merely nodded.

"Ah, then that spares us the trouble of introductions," Nodoka said. "Xellos-san has agreed to give you instruction on your new chosen extra-curricular activities." She nodded with a smile.

'Wait… Is she talking about the books I just got? How does he know what I... Wait, what does _she _know?' Ranko stared at the two for a little while before answering. "O…kay…"

-

Another year went by…

-

"I'm sorry, but father is no longer offering formal instruction," Kasumi had an apologetic look on her face as she turned away the first request to learn at the Tendo Dojo in years.

'Ah, I forgot. That's right, Soun stopped when his wife died…' Ranko looked up at the older girl in mock confusion. "Aaa…Um, but if it wouldn't bother you too much, could you tell him that Saotome Ranko is here? It's a matter of family…business."

"Ah…" Kasumi frowned as she considered the importance of this 'family business'. "I will go get him." Kasumi motioned for the younger girl to come in

The older girl nodded before she disappeared back into the house. Ranko remained standing at the door however, and didn't have to wait an entire minute before a man with long hair and a thick mustache appeared before her.

"Yes, can I help you?" The man said with a hopeful look on his face. Ranko raised an eyebrow at this.

'He's already waiting for them? Huh.' She shrugged. "My name is Saotome Ranko. It's a pleasure to meet you." The girl made a deep bow, then stood up and looked him in the face. "How to begin…Tendo-san, you know of my father, Saotome Genma, correct?"

"Genma," He nodded. "How could I forget? We trained under the same master and our styles are complementary of one another." Ranko inwardly chuckled while outwardly, she was trying her best to look hopeful.

"Well, you see, my father began training me in the Art a while back," She started. "But unfortunately, he was not able to continue, as he left on an extended training trip with my dear brother," Ranko put on her best sad expression and continued. "We haven't heard from them in years, but I figure they'll be back within another five."

"Five years? You're sure?" Tendo asked looking rather hopeful.

"Without a doubt," She nodded. Soun looked relieved. 'I guess I just took a load off of his back, or something,' she thought to herself. "As I was saying, they'll be back, and…well you see, mother has not been able to find a capable instructor for me to continue father's training, and I fear that I have lost my own proficiency in the art while stagnating…"

"So you wish to study under me so that your father and brother aren't disappointed in you when they return," the man said, filling in his own blanks. Ranko feigned surprise, then nodded vigorously. "Well, normally…normally, I would not consider taking a student…"

"I have money…" She started in a faux desperate voice.

"Nonsense!" Soun held up a hand. "You're a friend of the family--"

"I insist. It would be wrong for you to lose profit just because we're acquaintances."

"…I see," The Tendo patriarch favored her with an appraising look. 'So unlike her father,' "…Well then, I believe we can work something out." His face lit up with a smile as they began negotiating.

--

Five years after her first encounter with the Tendo family, Saotome Ranko was walking towards the Tendo Dojo with her friends Akane and Nabiki. All three were wearing the Furinkan High School girl's uniform. Ranko kept her hair undone and it fell past her shoulders..

"So," Nabiki started. "When exactly is your brother supposed to show up?" She looked up at her sister and the Saotome girl, both of whom were walking on the metal fence on their way home. The red head had suggested it as a means for training, and though both stumbled quite a few times in the beginning, it was now something that they could do without thinking.

"I'm not quite sure," The red haired girl said with a thoughtful look. The shorter girl ducked to dodge a punch from the youngest Tendo, kicking back at her in retaliation. She turned around to face her friend and back flipped along the fence to get a fair distance away from her. "All I know is that they said it was going to be a ten year trip. They could be here by the end of the year or tonight, beats me really," she said with a shrug as she continued walking backwards. She sensed the end of the fence nearing and back flipped again, this time landing on the ground. Akane followed with a somersault, and the whole thing might have impressed anyone but the three present.

"That's good enough, I suppose," Nabiki shrugged.

--

The very next day, Ranko and Akane were in the Tendo Dojo, taking a break from their sparring, when Nabiki poked her head into the dojo.

"Father said he had something to tell us." The middle Tendo sister said.

"For us?" Akane asked.

"Not Ranko, She doesn't have to come."

'Pfft, as if I'll miss this,' the red haired girl thought, suppressing a smirk. "I'll go. It sounds interesting if it's for all three of you."

--

(ºoº)わいー


	2. Here's Ranma!

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise. Also, note that the +++FLASHBACK+++ sequences are a reference to the greatest humor series of all time.

Also, any glaring errors will be fixed tomorrow 'cause I'm too lazy to fix it right now and I would like to get a response soon.

---Chapter 1: Here's Ranma!---

"Fiance?"

"Yes, the son of a very good friend of mine," Soun said to the four girls. Ranko's eyes lit up in recognition.

"You mean…" Ranko spoke up in realization.

"That's right, your brother, Ranma Saotome, is the boy." He smiled. His daughters were giving Ranko the Evil Eye and she held up her arms in defense.

"Whoa, I had no idea there was an arranged marriage involved! I thought he would be going straight home! Honest!" Everyone except for the middle Tendo girl took that as atleast a half-truth.

"So, Ranko, what can you tell us about your brother? How old is he?" Kasumi said with a hopeful look.

"That's right," Nabiki said thoughtfully. "You never really talk about them much, do you? Other than how great and wonderful Ranma must be, but still…"

"I haven't seen them in years," Ranko snapped. She calmed down some and put her hand up to her chin. "…Well, Ranma's older than me…" She started with a thoughtful look. Just as Kasumi's eyes lit up, she continued. "…by about a few minutes…" The middle Tendo sister blinked at this.

"You mean he's your twin?"

"Yep,"

"Oh…" The eldest girl looked downcast. They were alerted by some crashing sounds and noises. "We have visitors!" The eldest announced. All five stood up.

"It must be Ranma!" Nabiki said excitedly.

"Saotome my friend, we've been waiting!" The two took off towards the entrance… Only to come running back seconds later with a panda carrying a young girl behind them. Ranko looked up at the girl in recognition.

"Hey! Yo! You're scarin' them spitless!" the girl called over her shoulder.

"Father! _These_ are your _friends_?!" the eldest asked from behind the man. He rapidly shook his head and the Nabiki looked up at him angrily.

"Oh yeah! So this _PANDA_ just decided to visit! Happens all the _TIME_!" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The Panda set Ranma-chan down in front of the man and she looked up into his face. Ranko approached her from the side.

"Brother?" She asked tentatively. 'Heh. I should win an Oscar for what I'll be doing from now on.' "It's been so long!" She hugged the other girl then froze in 'surprise'. She pulled back from Ranma-chan and looked down at her chest. It was at this time, however, that Ranma was able to slightly remember his sister.

"Ranko?" She asked in just as hesitant a voice.

"Hey…" Nabiki said in confusion. "They're identical!" She was poking both in the chest. "Equipment and all!" Silence reigned for a good moment before Ranko's eyes rolled back in her head and she 'fainted'.

"Ranko!" Akane said in concern. "Ranko, are you okay?" Ranma merely looked down at the girl below her, trying to remember as much as she could about her sister.

-

'Now should be a good time to "wake up…"' Ranko blinked open her eyes and awoke from her self-induced fainting spell and looked up. She was lying next to Soun. "Oh…what an odd dream…"

"It wasn't a dream, Ranko-chan," Nabiki said in annoyance. "Your twin brother is actually your 'Twin Sister'."

"No, no…that's impossible," She said, sitting up. "The reason they wouldn't allow me to join them on the trip was because I was a girl. I doubt they would let one girl go and the other stay," She turned to face the group. "Ranma…" She looked for the other girl. 'Must already be in the Dojo with Akane then,' She thought to herself. 'I figured I'd end up looking just like his cursed form…' the girl thought as she blinked. Then, with the classic fist-in-palm look of realization, she nodded. "I get it! You've been cursed!"

Genma froze.

"Yeah! That's gotta be it! There's no other way that much magic could be flowing from the two of you!" She pointed at the Panda knowingly. "You must be father, right?" She said.

"Magic?" Nabiki asked, looking at her.

"Oh yeah. I never told you, did I?" She said with a thoughtful look.

"Told us what?" Nabiki asked, irate with the girl for withholding information.

"I'm a sorceress." She said, looking back towards the Panda.

"A WHAT?" Nabiki asked rather loudly.

"Here, let me show you!" The red head said in a giddy voice. She tapped the middle Tendo girl on the forehead. "Sleep." The girl in question's eyes closed and she fell over. "See? Wasn't that fun?" She gave a double-fisted smile and maintained an all-around cutesy look.

Everyone with the exception of the now sleeping Nabiki stared at her warily.

--

Meanwhile, in the dojo..

--

"Yah!" Akane threw a punch and Ranma found herself instinctively dodging. "Yah!" She kicked out and Ranma's eyes widened as she blocked it.

'She's pretty good! Almost as good as that Amazon chick!' the pig-tailed girl thought, a smirk creeping onto her face. 'Too bad she's a girl though. I can't spar seriously with a girl…Whoa!' She ducked under another punch. 'At least it's good dodging practice!'

---

"Hmm…Hmm…" Ranko was closing her eyes and holding her hand over the Panda's head in what appeared to be concentration. "The trigger…has something to do with water…" She said. After another palm-in-fist look of realization she nodded. "Well that's simple!"

-

Genma-Panda flew towards the Koi-Pond with a horrified look in his eyes. 'How did she…' There was a splash and the panda got out of the water, shaking it's…claw…paw? Err, whatever.

"But I was sure it was water-related," Said Ranko with an unsure look in her eyes.

"Eh? What's going on?" Ranma said as she walked out to join Ranko and Genma. "What's pops doin' out there?" she asked uncertainly.

"Ranma," Ranko asked, turning to face the boy. "How does your curse work? It's something to do with water, right?" She prodded. Ranma looked at her in surprise.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Your body changing curse. You can fix it with water…Maybe you don't know," She muttered.

"Uh…It's hot water," Ranma said blankly.

"Really? Then that's simple!" She smiled and tossed Genma-Panda back at the Koi-Pond. "Fireball!" She threw a small orb of orange light at the pond and there was an explosion of steam. A man's scream sounded out as Genma, now human, jumped out of the pond.

"Hot water! Not _boiling_!" he yelled at his daughter.

"Father! It really is you!" Said the girl with a look of awe and adoration in her eyes.

"Uh, well yes…" Genma said, positioning his glasses to stay on his head. Both looked at Ranma-chan for a second. Ranma glanced at the Koi Pond, which was still giving off a large amount of steam.

"Er, How did you do that?" Ranma asked, trying to take attention away from herself. Genma turned to look at Ranko and Ranko looked up thoughtfully.

"Oh, it's magic," she said. "Aren't you going to change…back?" Both Genma and Ranko looked around in confusion. "Where'd he go?"

"Anyway," Genma said, turning back towards the girl. "Is your mother around?"

"No," The girl shook her head. "If you want I could call-"

"NO! No! I mean…not…That's not necessary!" He laughed. "Your mother…err…"

"Father? Is something wrong?" the girl asked.

"No, nothing." He hugged the girl. "I'm just so glad to finally see you after so long, daughter!"

"Oh, and me you, father!" She cried fake tears of happiness. 'Just how many guys did you engage me to on your trip, anyway?'

"You look well, daughter," Genma said, pulling away from the girl. "You've kept up your training?"

"Yes," She said, starry-eyed. "Mother discourages it, but I was able to keep her from noticing…"

"Good, good," Genma nodded. "I'll assess your skills later, but for now, come, we must speak with Tendo at once!"

--

A little later Ranma was thinking while soaking in the furo.

'I can't believe she's here…' Ranma closed his eyes in thought. 'My sister…She looks just like my cursed form…I wonder how she knew about the curse? I hope she's told everyone else…'cause if not they're about ta find out the hard way…' Ranma sighed as he stepped up and prepared to get out of the bath.

Only to find Akane standing at the entrance to the washroom. He blinked and noticed that her eyes were looking more lower than directly at his face. He looked down. 'Oh.'

--

Ranko was sitting by the shoji screen that was the entrance of the house, watching the sky.

"YAAAAAAAAA!"

"Oh? That was Akane," Ranko said, looking away from the sunset. Ranko watched in confusion as Akane ran out, dressed only in her Gi-top, and proceeded to grab a large piece of some ornament looking thing that she'd never bothered to ask what was called. "Akane-chan, what's wrong?"

"THERE'S A PERVERT IN THE BATHROOM!"

"What? Oh, that's Ranma," Ranko waved it off.

"COME ON- What?" Akane stuttered.

"You know, my brother," She said casually.

"Your brother?" Akane asked, confused. "I thought Ranma was your _sister_?"

"Haven't I been telling you for all these years that Ranma is a _he_? What would make you think he was a girl at all?"

"But- it…she…HE…" As the adrenaline faded, She realized just _how_ heavy the huge chunk of stone she was holding was. She set it back where it was and stood there silently.

"You're not wearing any underwear?" The red-headed girl asked. "You might want to remedy that," She said. Akane turned around to look at her in confusion. Ranko pointed behind herself with her thumb and Akane's gaze followed. Ranma was standing there, staring at her.

"You…YOU PERVERT!" She screamed.

"Well Akane, you're the one running around more than half-naked," Ranko said, looking somewhat offended. "Maybe you should have considered underwear?" Akane looked at Ranko, feeling more than a little lost.

"Well…but…HE'S STILL A PERVERT!"

"Hey now," Ranma said, looking somewhat peeved. "Who walked in on who?"

"It's different when a girl sees a guy!" Akane screamed, her face as red as possible. Ranko and Ranma looked at each other before shrugging. "And I thought you were a girl!" she stomped away, clearly upset with the both of them.

"Darn, this is what I wanted to avoid. Oh well, not like I really tried," Ranko shrugged. "And you were staring at her,"

"Was not," Ranma blushed.

There was silence for a while between the two and Ranma looked at Ranko.

"…You're looking well," Ranma said.

"I know," the girl said flicking her hair behind her back. "Although I haven't had a chance to change out of this Gi for a while…" She looked up at him. "Those look really comfortable," the girl said. "Chinese silk?"

"Yeah…"

---

"Once more," Ranko sighed. She was sitting in between her father and brother, introducing the two. "This is my father, Genma." She pointed at the bald middle-aged martial artist to her left with her right arm. "This is my twin brother, Ranma." She pointed at the pig-tailed martial artist to her other side wit her other arm.

The fact that this inversely crossed her arms only served to make the scene look stranger.

"What's this all about?" Nabiki spoke up.

"Is Ranma really _her_?" Kasumi asked.

"Hmm…Where to begin…" Genma started. "I know…"

SPLASH

"HEY!" Ranma cried out indignantly as she surfaced from the Koi pond. "What the hell are you DOING?!"

"Ohhh…My own son. How humiliating…" Genma remained unaware of the pig-tailed girl that jump kicked him from behind until he was sopping wet.

"Who are YOU to talk?!" She yelled, crossing her arms.

"Daddy…" Kasumi started as she watched the two brawl in the Koi Pond. "Why are you friends with them?"

"They weren't like this before!" He started. An orange ball of light approached the Koi Pond. "Not before they went to China--" There was an explosion of water and steam. "…What now?" They watched as two very red martial artists walked away from the Koi Pond towards Ranko.

"What was that for?!" Ranma asked his sister angrily.

"I just thought you two could use a little warming up," she shrugged.

"Ohh yeahhh," Nabiki said, narrowing her eyes, looking at the red-headed girl. "What's this 'Sorceress' business all of a sudden?!"

"Details, details," Ranko said, waving her hand. "All will come in time. For now, we were talking about Otou-sama and Aniki's transformations?"

"Ah yes," Genma said.

GENMA'S QUICK'N DIRTY FLASHBACK+++

"Here we are pop!" Ranma sneered. "The secret training ground of Jusenkyo!"

"Boy…" Genma warned. "I have a bad feeling about this place. Perhaps it would be wise for us to move on."

"Are you joking?" Ranma continued to sneer. "You're just afraid of a little water, old man! Hah! To think I call you sensei!" the boy laughed as he hoped atop one of the poles. "You can stay there all you like, you worthless slab of meat! I'm going to become the best martial artist ever!"

"Boy!" Genma growled. "…Fine. If you wish to be disciplined, so be it!" He hopped up and turned to face Ranma. "You will regret your wor-

END RETARDED FLASHBACK+++

"That ain't how it went at all!" Ranma roared. "You were the one who dragged me there!"

RANMA'S _FAR_ MORE ACCURATE FLASHBACK+++

"Here, Sir. Is legendary "Training ground of Accursed Springs." A portly Chinese man dressed in red clothes motions a large grouping of ponds with tons of bamboo shafts poking out of the ground. The two martial artists look around and Ranma snorts.

"Are you prepared, Ranma?"

"Feh. Ain't impressed." The two began setting their traveling packs and equipment to the side.

"You very strange ones, no? This place very dangerous. Nobody use now." Ranma turned to see the guide and blinked; he was wearing green clothes this time. "Is more than one hundred spring here…and each one have own tragic legend!"

Genma snorted. "Right. Tragic." He leapt into the air. "Ranma, follow me!" He leapt up above the poles and Ranma followed, tightening his belt.

"Wait, sirs! Very bad if fall in spring!"

"I won't take it easy on you." Genma said.

"That's just how I want it." Ranma replied, just as seriously. The two clashed, and Ranma was the first to knock Genma down below. Ranma landed on one of the bamboo poles as his father fell into the water. "Gotcha." The boy waited for a few seconds before realizing something may have been wrong. As bubbles started to surface, he called out. "What's up pop? Through already?"

Just then, a huge Panda wearing a Dogi jumped out at Ranma.

"Wh-what the hell is this?!" Ranma asked, pointing at the Panda. The guide spoke up.

"That is spring of drowned panda! Tragic story of Panda who drown there two thousand years ago! Now whoever fall in spring take form of panda!"

'Oh no.' Ranma's eyes bugged out even further. "Wait a second!" 'If the old man knocks me down there, who knows what I'll turn into?!' He dodged the Panda's attacks. "You never said anything about—Waugh!" Ranma was slammed downwards towards another spring.

END FLASHBACK+++

A wind chime sounds as they sit.

"So…The legendary ground of accursed springs. It's true horror has always been shrouded in mystery. But now…"

"Feh. What 'True horror'?!" Ranma grabbed his father by the gi. "Yo, old man, what's the idea of dragging me to a place like that anyway?!"

SPLASH

"You sound like a WOMAN! Were you not willing to give your life for the art?!"

"My life, yes! My manhood is another story!" Ranma quickly hopped out of the water, glad it was still warm from Ranko's Fireball. 'Hey, wait a minute!' "Ranko!" Everyone turned to face the shortest person there.

"Eh? What?" She asked.

"What was that magic stuff you were talkin' bout earlier?"

"Hmm?" She asked, looking innocent. "Whatever are you talking about?" Nabiki's eyes flashed with recognition.

"Don't play dumb," the middle Tendo pointed at the girl. "Just what have you been holding out on us?"

"Ah…you mean this?" She asked, poking Nabiki on the forehead. "Sleep."

"Yes, tha…" She fell over. Everyone looked at her, then at Ranko, who was creeping away.

"Oh no you don't!" Ranma grabbed the girl and pulled her back towards the group. "Where did ya' think you were goin?"

"Oh, uh, to take a bath," She shrugged.

"Why are you trying to avoid this?" Akane asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Avoid what?"

"The magic." Akane said.

"What magic?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" the other girl yelled.

"You mean this?" Ranko tried to poke the other girl on the head, but Akane jumped backwards, perfectly evading the attempt. "Oh, darn. She's wising up to me." Everyone stared at her, half-lidded. "Well, I suppose you should wake Nabiki-chan up, because I don't really want to repeat myself," She said.

--

Everyone was sitting around, waiting for Ranko's explanation.

"Well?" Ranma prodded.

"Well, you see…I'm…the reincarnation of a magical princess from the kingdom of the moon, thousands of years ago!"

She was met with a majority of half-lidded stares.

"I think most of us have seen Sailor Moon." Nabiki deadpanned.

"Oh. Right…Well, uh…" She blinked, looking around. "You see…I'm…err…"

"Just tell us the truth, why don't you?" Ranma asked, annoyed.

"Oh, fine. I… found some old weird books a really long time ago and it turned out they were tomes of magic." She shrugged. Everyone stared at her.

"That's…it?"

"Yep." She stood up. "Man, I'm famished. Hey Akane, You wanna take a bath while dinner is prepared? You were going to earlier before wonder boy over there surprised you."

"…Uh…yeah. I guess." She shook her head, stood up and the two made their way to the washroom.

The rest just sat there in relative silence.

"So…" Ranma blinked several times.

"So, Ranma," Soun moved to the boy's side. "You transform into a girl with cold water and change back with warm water, yes?"

"That's the skinny," Ranma nodded.

"Well then!" Soun chuckled. "Your problem's not so bad!"

"Huh?"

"You've met my daughters," Soun said. He motioned towards Kasumi. "Kasumi, Nineteen." He motioned towards Nabiki. "Nabiki, Seventeen." He then motined towards the washroom. "Akane, Sixteen. Pick the one you want, and she's your fiancée."

"Oh, he wants Akane," Kasumi suggested.

"Definitely," Nabiki nodded rapidly.

"What? Nah, she…seems a bit too violent—"

"Good choice, son!" Soun ignored him. "Well then, from now on, Akane is your fiancée!"

"No!" Ranma stood up. "I don't have time for this fiancée crap!" he turned to leave and started walking.

"Foolish boy," Genma snorted. "Just where are you going?"

"I'm going back to China to find a cure for this curse!" Ranma shot back.

"Oh, poor Ranko," Genma started. "She's only gotten to see her brother once…" Ranma slowed down at this. "She'll be heartbroken when she finds out her brother abandoned her again!" He forced his eyes shut to squeeze a tear out. Ranma clenched his fists and turned around to face the man.

"…Fine. But I'm staying for her, and not any of this other mess."

--

"So what do you think of Ranma?" Ranko asked, sitting next to Akane in the large furo. "I heard you managed to get him into the dojo before you found out he was a he,"

"That's right…" Akane sighed.

"So he beat you?"

"Hmph," the other girl frowned. "He was toying with me."

"Wow, that much better, eh?" Ranko nodded. 'That's to be expected. Even though we have each other for sparring partners as well as Mister Tendo's… lax training, life on the road is way tougher. I imagine she did better than she would have, but it probably still wasn't good enough. We're about even so… I'm definitely going to have to train with those two if I want to catch up. I don't really care about what Akane does, although she'll likely join us.' "Well, he and otou-sama have been on the road for ten years. I'd bet aniki was as good as we are now when we first met, if not better."

"…You speak so respectfully of the two."

"Haha-ue taught me no less," Ranko sighed.

"Auntie Saotome?" Akane spoke up. "Hmm, she does seem the type."

There was silence as the two girls relaxed.

"Well…What else do you think of him? You think he looks nice, huh, huh?" Ranko nudged Akane with an elbow. "Come on! You can tell me!" Akane blushed.

"That's none of your business!"

"Sure it is when you're talking about my brother," Ranko smirked. "You could end up as my Sister-in-law, you know." Akane's face only seemed to redden further and she sank below the water in the furo up to her mouth. "Ah ha! So you do think he's cute!" The girl mumbled something, but only bubbles surfaced up through the water. "Hmm? What's that? I can't hear you," Ranko leaned in and blinked several times.

"_He's…_"

"What? Stop mumbling. I couldn't hear that second part." Ranko leaned in closer.

"_He lives up to his name,_" Akane whispered in frustration. Ranko blinked.

"Huh." She thought for a few seconds. "Oh. OH. Oh _eww. _Totally gross, sister, that was some unneeded information right there," Ranko said, moving away from the other girl. "For someone who says 'Pervert' a lot, you sure notice just the right things," She shuddered. "I think I might be having nightmares tonight, thanks."

Akane could only stare straight ahead as the few seconds in which she'd walked in on Ranma repeatedly replayed in her mind.

---

Once she got out the Furo and put on her night clothes, which consisted of black shorts and a red tank top, she walked into the guest room to speak with Genma, who was going through his and Ranma's travel packs.

"Ne, Otou-sama," Ranko called out to her father. "Are you going to take us home today?"

"Huh?" Genma asked in surprise. "N-NO! I mean…Why should we go home?"

"Well…" Ranko looked outside. "It is kinda dark. I mean, I was already planning to spend the night because Haha-ue is out of town on business, but I guess I can prepare two extra mats." She shrugged. "I just thought, since we have our own house, you could just take us there."

"No no no no, that will not be necessary. You see, I…" Genma frantically thought of an excuse not to go home. "Well you see…I cannot properly surprise your mother if Ranma and I are there waiting for her when she gets home from her trip!" Ranko blinked and looked thoughtful for a second.

"Actually, that sounds like a rather nice way to surprise her…"

"No! NO! It's all wrong," Genma said urgently. "Listen, I know your mother. And I know _just_ the way to surprise her with Ranma. Just keep me posted, okay sweetie? If you catch wind of her return, tell me as _soon_ as possible." He would have curled his fingers if it were not for the fact that his hands were near death-gripping the girl's shoulders. He watched as several emotions played out on her face and prayed to whatever gods existed that she'd buy it.

"Hmm…Okay!" She said with a cheery face. "I'll leave all the thinking to you! Tee hee!"

"Thank you!" He gave her a bone crushing hug. "Thank you!"

"Ergh…you're hurting me…O…tou…sama…" He released her with a look of concern on his face and checked her for injuries.

"Are you all right?"

"Ah, no I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath."

-

"Kasumi-onee-chan," Ranko said as she walked out of the guest room just as Ranma walked in. "Otou-sama said he plans on staying here. Are the extra futons in the same place where mine was?"

"Yes, that's correct," Kasumi nodded, then looked thoughtful. "Are you sure you still want to sleep in the guest room? I'm sure Akane wouldn't mind…"

"Oh no, it's quite alright. They're family, and I haven't seen them in so long," She said with a wistful sigh.

"But still, they're both men…"

"Oh come on, onee-chan," Ranko waved a hand. "They aren't going to try anything silly like that. They're family!"

"Well, okay…" She sighed. "If that's how you feel…" She watched in disappointment as the younger girl walked away. 'Auntie Nodoka's worked so hard to raise her as a traditional girl.' She turned back to the bowl she was scrubbing. 'I can't let that go to waste…but…' She shook her head and berated herself. 'Oh, what am I so worked up about? That's her twin brother and father…'

And soon, the usual pleasant, oblivious smile that would last for the rest of the series set on her face as she completed the last of her household chores.

"Oh, onee-chan," Ranko said as she poked her head from behind a wall.

"Yes, Ranko-chan?" She turned to face the girl with her usual smile.

"Let me help you with cooking from now on, okay?" Kasumi's smile brightened.

"Of course!"

--

Ranko walked out of the washroom in her nightie and yawned. "Man, it's getting late. I wonder if they're sleep already," She said in a low voice. When she slid open the door to the guest room, she noticed that Genma was snoring away, and Ranma was lying on his own futon in the middle of her empty one and Genma's, silent. "Yep, looks like it," She whispered as she got into her own futon.

Within minutes, she was performing a duet with Genma.

-

Ranma growled as he covered his ears with his pillow before looking from Genma to Ranko. "You can_ tell_ they're related," he growled.

Needless to say, he did not sleep as well as the other two Saotomes.

---

¯\(ºo)/¯


	3. Body and Soul

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Eheh, this isn't _exactly _an SI as Brian-Ranko will be doing things that I wouldn't in the future. (However, I am considering putting myself in at a later point just for kicks) I also forgot to mention that this was a slight crossover with Slayers, but you don't need to have seen/read it to read this. I'll describe all the spells myself, and Xellos' background will be provided later, within the story. I needed Ranko to be able to do something, but I didn't want to push Ranma off the #1 pedastal for martial arts, so I made his sister just as good at the mystical arts, and _almost_ as good at Martial arts(the anti-thesis of this role will be filled by Ranma later, once he starts learning magic from her)…

Also, any glaring errors will be fixed tomorrow 'cause I'm too lazy to fix it right now and I would like to get a response soon.

---

"Huh? School?" Ranma looked at his father and sister with a look of confusion(as well as sleeplessness) plastered on his face.

"Well, we are going to be staying here for a while," Genma said.

"And now that the extended training trip is over, we'll be going home when Haha-ue returns from her trip, and since it's in the same district it only saves time," Ranko shrugged.

'Wait. Mom?' Ranma furrowed his brow in obvious concentration, trying to remember the woman. 'So she's alive? Pops never told me anything about her and I forgot as much about her as I did Ranko…' He shook his head. 'Wait a minute…' "Well, still. Why do I have ta go to school? Ain't no way algebra n' stuff's gunna help me run a dojo or nuthin."

"Ranma, it's easier for ignorant people to get scammed."

"That's not true," Genma started. "I've sca…Err, what the girl said, boy." Ranma and Ranko looked at him and then shrugged.

"Anyway, what I'm saying is…for example, if a man can not count and someone sells him one of those cheap ramen bowls for like ten thousand yen, he'll think it's an honest deal,"

"Nuh-uh," Ranma said. "People just know the value of money." He crossed his arms. "I don't need to go to school."

"Well I already signed you up yesterday, so you're going." Genma snapped.

"What?!" 'When did he get the time…'

"Oh be quiet, It's not that bad," Ranko rolled her eyes. Nabiki walked by and glanced in the room.

"I'm going to go ahead with Nabiki," She stood up ran after the middle Tendo sister.

"Wait!" Akane's voice sounded out. "I'll go with you!" She clambered around a corner in a hurry to follow the other girls.

"Wait, Akane. Don't you think you should be walking your Fiancé to school?" Ranko asked.

"He's _your_ brother! And when was it decided that he was _my_ fiancé? I thought it-"

"Last night," Nabiki said quickly. "Well Ranko, she is right, he's your brother. You going to just let the two of them walk to school…alone? Just the two of them?"

"Nabiki!" Akane shouted, red-faced.

"Yeah, I don't think she'll try anything like that yet," Ranko said casually as she and Nabiki left. Akane turned entirely red and steam was seen erupting from her ears.

"Is that healthy?" Ranma whispered to his father, pointing at the red girl.

"I don't think so."

-

Ranma sighed as he walked on the fence ahead of the Tendo girl. Akane was still brooding at the fact that her sister and best friend had left her behind with some…boy. And even if he was technically her fiancé, the two had known each other for less than an entire day. 'She doesn't think I'll try anything like _what_ yet?' She clenched her fist, knowing very well what the answer was. 'How can they mock me like this? It's…It's not fair!'

"Yo Akane, are you all right?" Ranma asked, concerned. "You don't look too swell."

"Of course I don't! My family just dumped some pervert boy on me and—"

"Whoa, hold it!" Ranma said angrily. "What's this pervert mess? You walked in on me and stared at MY—"

"IT'S DIFFERENT WHEN A GIRL SEES A GUY!" She interrupted him before he could finish.

"Right," Ranma snorted, turning forward. "Pervert."

"Wh…WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?" She screeched.

"I called you a pervert, pervert!" He snickered. 'This is so-' "HEY!" Ranma dodged a swipe from her bag and a few kicks. "What the hell are you doing, tomboy-pervert?!"

"STOP CALLING ME A PERVERT, BOY-GIRL PERVERT!"

"Heh," Ranma snorted. "Only when you stop being so perverted."

"I'm not perverted! I never was and never will be!"

"Then you're gonna be reaaal lonely." Ranma jumped to dodge a low kick. "Hey, stop it already! This is dangerous!" He looked over the edge of the fence and noticed to his horror a wash full of water.

"What's wrong? You not so tough now, are you?" She growled as she tried to punch him.

"No but there's water—Waugh!" With his concentration split between walking on the fence, eyeing the water in fear, and dodging Akane's fierce attacks, he slipped on the fence and fell below in the water. "Arrgh! Dammit!"

"Fufufufufu…Who's the pervert now, you stupid pervert?" She asked, laughing at him haughtily.

"You, you stinking pervert," Ranma said, flicking the wash water up at her.

"Gahh! You idiot!" Akane jumped down from the fence to avoid the dirty water. Ranma just jumped out after her and started walking the other way. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To take a bath, stupid. You think I want to start school as a _girl?_" she said as she walked away, wringing out her shirt.

"Eh?" She blinked. 'Wait, he doesn't know the way to school!' "Wait, if hot water is all you need, you can change back, right? Come on, I know somewhere where we can get hot water," she sighed, leading him away.

--

"So, what's Ranko's brother really like?" some of Nabiki's cronies were sitting with her in the window as they watched Ranko cut through the hentai brigade. It wasn't going any slower than usual, and that was noting the fact that she usually had Akane's help.

"He's really weird," Nabiki said. "There he is, right there," She pointed at the entrance of Furinkan where Ranma was watching in surprise as Akane hit the tail end of the hentai brigade that Ranko was cutting through towards the school. Any of the guys who had recovered by now were swiftly sent back to la-la land as the Akane and Ranko demolished the last of their ranks. The two ended up standing in the center of the boys, back to back, and neither looked winded. Ranma leapt over most of the boys to join them in the center.

-

"What the hell was that all about?" Ranma asked his sister and fiancée in annoyance. Had he just missed out on some wonderful free-for-all smackdown? Pops would be disappointed in him if anyone managed to tell the man what that was all about.

"Truly, such a boorish lot." Came a new voice. Ranma looked up and felt a sudden pang of disgust for some reason. He noticed that it was clearly showing on Ranko's face, while Akane merely looked annoyed. "Evidently each of them intends to ask you out on the day that he defeats you." Ranma spotted another teen wearing some old samurai garb.

"Talk about last year's fashion," Ranma said absently.

"Oh, Kuno-sempai." Akane drawled.

"And now…will the two of you fight with me?" Kuno said, tossing twin roses to the girls. Ranko instantly dropped hers in disgust and Akane only humored hers for a few seconds longer.

"Man, you two are popular," Ranma commented lazily.

"We sure are," Ranko nodded.

"What's going on anyway?"

"You there!" Before either girl could answer, Kuno interrupted. "You are being quite familiar with Akane and Ranko!"

"Huh?"

"Who ARE you, boor?! Ah! But is the custom to give one's own name first! Mine I shall GIVE!"

The trio stared at him in relative silence.

"Huh?" Ranma said finally. "If you want…" He shrugged.

"My _name_ is Kuno-sempai. Captain of the Kendo Club. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call me…the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Lightning struck behind him and the trio clapped. "Yes, that was impressive, was it not?"

"…Well, okay. I'm uh…I'm staying at the Tendo Practice hall—"

"WHAT?!" Kuno Roared. "Under the same roof as Akane?!"

"—I'm heir to the Saotome school of indiscriminate grappling…" Ranma jumped to dodge a strike from Kuno. "Here, hold this for me!" He tossed his bag to Ranko…who just let it fly past her to the ground. Ranma frowned. "What the hell was that? I said 'Hold this for me'!"

"I didn't feel like holding it." She shrugged as she walked off.

"Well whatever," Ranma mumbled. "Anyway, I'm Saotome Ranma!" He looked to Kuno. " And I accept your challenge!"

--

As Ranko made it to class 1-F, she noticed people were huddled in the center of the room.

"Hey Ranko!" one of the girls called as she made herself known. "Was that really your long lost brother?"

"Yeah."

"Wow! He's so amazing!"

"Is he single?"

"What's he like?"

"Is he gay?"

"Yes, He's amazing, No he's not single, He's a actually kinda dumb, and no, he's not gay." Ranko's eye twitched at that last one as she saw one of the boy's eyes flash with disappointment. 'Androgynous people can't be gay anyway, right?'

"Really? So who's the lucky girl?" Sayuri asked.

"Errr, I'll leave that to him to tell," Ranko said hesitantly. 'You'll all know by the end of the hour anyway.' The students seemed satisfied with this and took their seats.

The teacher then walked into the room.

"Hello, class!" He said with a cheery smile.

"Metallium-sensei! Did you hear about Ranko's brother?" one of the boys in the back asked.

"Hmm? Why yes!" the purple-haired man said. "I heard he was a delightful young man!" Ranko's eyebrow raised in amusement at Xellos' antics.

'Leave it to a demon that feeds off of negative emotions to become a math teacher…'

"Ah, shall we begin class?"

-

Ranma and Akane finally joined the class at around 9:30.

"Hmm?" Xellos noted Ranma and then looked down at the desk. "Oh yes, Saotome Ranma, the _esteemed_ brother of Saotome Ranko." The twins blushed at that. "Well, I'm afraid you're late, Saotome-san, Tendo-san. Stand outside for the remainder of the class, if you would." The two sighed and walked out of the class. "Where were we? Oh yes, the wonders of _Quadratic Equations_."

"But sensei, that's not till the middle of the book! We just started!"

"Oh?" Xellos opened one of his eyes to a slit and made his mouth in a simple flat line. There was an uncomfortable silence in the class. After a few seconds, he closed his eye and smiled again. "I thought as much. Now, turn to page—"

"NEVER!" came a fairly loud and familiar voice. "I SHALL NEVER ACCEPT YOUR ENGAGEMENT TO AKANE!"

Everyone looked at Ranko.

"What's this I hear?" Xellos looked at Ranko with his ever-present smile.

"Err, well our parents arranged--" She stopped in mid-speech as all of the seats were empty. Floating pencils fell to the ground and mild clouds of dust were dissipating. "Gahh…" She sighed. "I guess class is over."

---

"Hmm, where are they, where are they…" Ranko looked around the school grounds.

"Whither Ranma Saotome?!" cried out a familiar voice. Ranko turned her head to see the sopping wet Kuno looking around like a moron and blinked.

"Oi! Kuno-kun!" She shouted, approaching him.

"Ah! Saotome Ranko, the crimson-trussed-goddess!"

"Sorceress Genius," She corrected him.

"Sorceress?" He asked, looking nervous.

"Yeah. Haven't you ever seen magic before?"

"Of course not! Such does not exist!"

'He sounds like he's trying to reassure himself more than anything,' Ranko shrugged. "Right," She said holding up her hand. "So I guess this little piece of magic doesn't exist, eh?" A sphere of light appeared, hovering above her hand.

"That is correct! The sphere of magic in your hand does indeed _not_ exist!"

"Oh. Okay." She closed her eyes and the sphere of light exploded with a blinding flash. Kuno screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his eyes. Just then, Ranma, who was still in female form leapt over to the two.

"What the heck was that?" Ranma asked her sister. "I saw a flash of light and came as fast as I could." Ranko merely whistled innocently. "Well, whatever." She looked down at Kuno who was barely regaining his sense of sight. "Yo Kuno, what's up? Why are you groveling in front of us?"

"The blue thunder does not GROVEL!" Kuno thundered as he stood up and faced the twins. He suddenly stopped in mid-stride, then peered at Ranma, then Ranko, then Ranma again.

"Whoa, what's his problem?" Ranma asked.

"I don't think he knows you're the same person, Ranma," Ranko said.

'Ranma?!' "What is this nonsense you speak? Surely you do not intend to fool me into believing that this girl who looks identical to Ranko Saotome is the same as that foul cur! Where is that cad? Surely the coward has fled in fear of my own prowess!"

"Err, I don't know about that…" Ranko started.

"I don't have ta listen ta this crap," Ranma said as she angrily approached Kuno. "Kuno! I challenge you!"

"…Heh. How amusing," Kuno's voice rang with confidence. "Fine. If you can defeat me…" He held up his sword. "I will allow you to date with me!" He swung his bokken at Ranma, who simply jumped over the swing and kicked him in the face while using her other foot to tear the sword from his grip. "You jerk!" She kicked him again in the chin this time with enough force to knock him out instantly, and he fell over as she bounced off of his face with the stick in her hand and she tossed it at his crumpled, unconscious form once she landed. "That's that." Ranma smirked. He turned and started walking away. "Come on, Ranko, let's go home."

"School's not out yet," Ranko blinked.

"Oh. Well let's go."

"Wait!" Akane's voice sounded and she ran over to the group with a kettle. "Here." She gave it to Ranma who gladly accepted it.

"Yeah! You're not so bad after all, tomboy-pervert!" She said as she emptied it's contents on herself.

"I am NOT a pervert!" She yelled angrily. "I DETEST perverts!"

"Oh, so you're one of those 'do as I say, not as I do' types, eh?" Ranma smirked.

"NO!"

'Hmm, that's different,' Ranko noted. "Well, regardless, let's go."

---

That night, in the Tendo Dojo…

"Okay, Otou-Sama!" Ranko called out as she tightened her belt. "I'm ready!" She moved into a ready stance and the large martial artist gave her an appraising look.

"Good stance, not too many openings," he said.

'Not too many?' she blinked as he vanished. "Eyahh!" She jumped to the side to dodge his aerial strike.

"Keep your focus on the fight, girl!" He said seriously as he charged her with a flurry of kicks and punches. She managed to dodge most of them and only had to block two. On a particular uppercut, she countered and launched into a combination of her own attacks. He dodged every single one, and she had to give the old man credit for being able to move so bulky a body so well. "What are you waiting for, girl? Your old man may indeed be old, but I'm not decrepit yet!" He yelled. "You're starting to insult me!"

"Fine then!" She yelled, jumping back. "It's time to go all out! Are you ready?"

Genma yawned. "I'm waiting, dearie," He said in a bored voice.

'Mock ME will you?!' She narrowed her eyes as she leapt at him in a fit of controlled rage. "Taste THIS, old man!" She smirked as his eyes widened for a split second and he was forced to block her strike. She followed up with a roundhouse punch that he jumped backwards to dodge. In the split second it took for her to register that she'd missed and he'd jumped back, he was already flying at her in a high-jump kick. She braced herself and caught him, turning with his own momentum and releasing him at the dojo's wall.

Being a master of aerial combat gave him a great deal of control over his flight path, however, and he merely landed a meter or so away from her. The two re-engaged each other while Ranma and Akane watched from the sidelines.

"Wow," Ranma said. "She's pretty good, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's only a little worse than I am," Akane nodded. "I always beat her." Ranma snorted.

"You're not that good."

"Am so. I only went easy on you because I wasn't quite expecting what you had and I was still tired from sparring with her earlier."

"Ha, whatever, pervert-queen."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"You heard me," Ranma said, standing up in a challenging way. Akane glared at him.

"Fine! After these two are done, I'll mop the floor with you! Hmph!" She stomped away to get her gi.

"Hmm, I was thinking we could go as we were, the Dojo's big enough," He blinked. When he turned back to Genma and Ranko, the girl was bent over, panting and Genma was standing there with an appreciative look on his face.

"I'm going to have to thank Tendo for keeping the girl in shape. She's about as good as you can get without living the way we did, boy." He said to his son.

"Really?" Ranma asked. "Yo, pops, why did you go all out on her? I thought you said you can't do that with girls."

"She's family, she doesn't count," Genma snorted and waved it off.

"Ah, okay," Ranma accepted that. 'Then I can't wait to spar with her.'

"What about his fiancée?" Ranko asked, having caught her breath.

"He can do as he pleases with her," Genma said, waving his hand.

"Father…" Ranko sighed, drawing herself up to her full (diminutive) height. "What would you do if you realized _my_ fiancé was going easy on me?"

"I'd…" He stopped. "Hmmm…" There was some thinking involved. "Well I'd--…no…" Ranko shrugged.

"It's all right, pops, you can stop hurting yourself," Ranma spoke up as he walked over to Ranko and held up a hand. "If you really want me to be harder on her, I'll try. But no guarantees."

"Really? You mean it?"

"I said no guaran—"

"Oh, aniki, you're the best!" She glomped him and hugged on to him. "I just knew you'd come to your senses!"

"Uh…" Ranma just stood there, blushing. "…Whatever. Oh and could you stop calling me Aniki? Ranma is just fine," He said.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly. Haha-ue would never allow it."

"But Mom's not here right now," He said, annoyed.

"…Fine, if it's what aniki desires of me, I shall comply," She said, sulkily. She looked up into his face with big, sparkling eyes. "You know I'd do anything for you, Aniki…"

Ranma was beyond weirded out at this point. "Uh, yeah, okay," He said, ducking out from under her embrace. "Uh, listen, why don't you go…uh…what is it you were about to do?"

"Watch you and Akane spar." 'Oh man, he's so easy to mess with. All I did was say "anything".' Ranko chuckled to herself. 'Well, I am the best looking girl in all of Nerima…heh heh…'

---

Sunday

---

Ranma-chan waited patiently at the appointed place. Kuno had given Nabiki a letter of challenge addressed to the "beauteous twin of Saotome Ranko" sometime the week before and it was now time for their bout.

"Feh, there he is," She smirked as he became visible.

"So you have come, my pig-tailed girl!"

"You don't learn quick, pal, do you? Well? Where's your sword?"

"Humph. I have no need of a sword…"

"Really? Pretty confident today, aren't you?"

"Confident enough…to give you THIS!" He yelled as he tossed a bouquet of roses to the girl. Ranma froze after she instinctively caught it. "I love you." He turned and began walking away. Ranma fell to her knees in shock.

---

The day after…

---

Ranma blinked. "Hey, it's a Hot Spring?" He asked aloud.

"What kind of place is this?" said a familiar voice to his side. He looked and saw his cursed form…no, Ranko; the hairstyle was a tell-tale sign of her identity.

"Ranko, what are you doing here?"

"I don't know, but I think we're about to find out." She said, pointing up.

"Eh?"

"RAAAANMAAAAA!" Came an impossibly loud and deep rumble. Ranma's eyes bugged at the monstrous Kuno. "I LOVE YOU!"

"What? Listen, you moron, I'm a Bo-" Ranma froze as he was suddenly a she. Her eyes bugged and she stuttered. "N-no…this is impossible!" She yelled out.

"Come on!" Ranko said frantically, grabbing her brother-sister by the hand. "Raywing!" She shouted and the two tore away from Kuno at impressive speeds.

"Whoa! What the heck is going on? Why are we flying?" She blinked, before noticing their state of dress. "WHY ARE WE IN OUR BIRTHDAY SUITS?!"

"I dunno!" Ranko said as she dodged Kuno's hand. The Kuno Giant was trying to grab them as he gave chase.

"GO OUT WITH ME!"

"Man, Ranma, you sure have some _demented_ dreams," Ranko muttered to herself. She dodged Kuno's hand again and looked around. 'There's no end to the water…' "Dolph Zork!" she yelled and a great amount of water flew into her hand before taking the form of a spear. She threw it at Kuno, but it didn't slow him down in the least. She noticed the airplanes flying around them and blinked. "Hey, this reminds me of King Kong." She blinked. "Does that mean—ACK!" She screamed as Kuno grabbed her and Ranko in one hand.

"HOLD IT! I'M A BOY!" Ranma shrieked.

"I LOVE YOU!" Mega-Kuno yelled out, deafening the girls.

"KYAAAA

---

AAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Ranma and Ranko shot up from their futons at the same time, screaming. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Ranma screamed.

"I don't know, but I hope I never get pulled into your freaky dreams again!" Ranko snapped, edging away from her brother.

"Huh? You mean you dreamed the same thing?" He asked.

"Mother of all hot springs, Kuno Kong?" She asked hesitantly.

"Y-yeah…" Ranma shuddered in memory. "Hey, how did you fly in there?!"

"It was a spell," She shrugged.

"You can do that?" Ranma's eyes lit up. Suddenly, Magic was a lot more interesting.

"No, but I dreamed that I could," She explained. "I'm not quite as good with magic as I ought to be, really." She said, honestly.

"Oh…"

---

That morning, the twins plus one Tendo Akane cut through the morning swarm of boys in record time. When they reached the end, the three simultaneously jumped up and kicked Kuno in the face. The boy was instantly knocked out.

"Hey! Don't fight our fights for us!" Akane yelled to her fiancé.

"Trust me Akane, that _wasn't_ for '_us'_," Ranko said.

"Yeah!" Ranma growled. 'Damn that Kuno! I was sick on the way to school!'

--

Nabiki looked at the stuffed panda on her desk. "For the pig-tailed girl?" She asked. 'Talk about irony,' "Uhm, anyway, so does that mean you're adding her to your two-timing list?" She asked.

"Don't be vulgar." The boy said. "Akane, so pure and tidy…Ranko, seductive and intelligent…the Pig-tailed girl, bursting with healthy beauty…All three so dear I can give up neither! Do you call it "deceit" that I would openly wish for them all?"

"No…I call it…TWO-TIMING!" 'Er, or is that three-timing? Whatever,' She said as she slammed her hand on her desk. There were assorted pictures of Ranko, Akane, and Ranma-chan. "Three sets of five. 9000 yen."

"So fierce! So…defenseless… And so charming!" He muttered. "Sold."

---

"Err…What is this, Kuno?" Ranma asked as the older boy handed him a stuffed Panda.

"Why must I give this to you?!"

"Eh?" Ranma looked up at the deranged boy in fear of the insane. "W-what are you talking about?"

"'If you wish for the pig-tailed girl to receive this gift, you must present it to Ranma Saotome!' Quoth Nabiki Tendo!" He yelled.

"Listen, Kuno, just _forget_ about her," Ranma said, walking away. "You'll probably never see _her_ again." He glared at the boy out of the corner of his eye and turned the corner around the building, just as some doofus on the second floor emptied out a bucket of water.

"Hey! What if someone was down there?!"

"Oh relax, it's just water," the other person said.

"I spat a loogie in that bucket!"

"Oh, well then you're just sick."

"I figured you were going to pour it in the sink…" And the window snapped shut.

Ranma-chan was effectively trying not to throw up on herself.

"Never see her again?! What is he talking about?!" The deranged swordsman ran into Ranma-chan, who was currently green in the face. "Pig-tailed girl!" He yelled out, hugging her to him. There was suddenly a warm, wet feeling on his stomach and he blanched. "You are ill!" He said. "And you were ill on my noble person!"

"Yeah," She grumbled in serious pain. "I guess you hate me now, huh?"

"Never! No matter what affliction ails thee, pig-tailed girl, you will always be the highlight of my life!"

"S-serious?" She asked. 'No one's ever said that for me before…WAIT, WHAT AM I THINKING?' "Egh! I'm sorry Kuno but I think I'm going to be sick again!" She yelled and she put up her arm to her mouth, running away. Kuno merely blinked at the scene, before sighing.

"Err…that didn't go the way it was supposed to at all," came a voice.

"Who goes?"

"It's just me," Ranko said as she approached the boy. "Anyway, there is a reason you need to see Ranma. You see, Kuno-kun, The pig-tailed girl's body and soul…they both belong to Ranma Saotome," She said, closing her eyes. "Do you get it now?" She opened them to see Kuno standing with a grim look on his face.

"I understand." He said, clenching his fist. "I understand that your brother is a most vile beast, and that I may not rest until he is felled by my noble blade!" The maniac ran off in some random direction, screaming something like 'Whither Ranma Saotome' and Ranko just shook her head.

"Shouldn't he…I don't know, clean himself up first?" said a voice from the side. Nabiki walked out from the bushes and looked at her. "You sent him after her, didn't you?"

"Who, me?" Ranko asked, innocently.

"Why of course. Who else?"

"Sleep," Ranko said, poking the girl on the head.

"What the…" Nabiki fell over, lost to the world.

"I think the vomit was kind of unnecessary, though. Although if I knew someone had spat on me, I wouldn't be too happy either." She turned and walked away. "I wonder how many other things are going to go wrong even when I don't intervene..?"

--

"There you are, cur!" Kuno yelled out. He was inexplicably clean of any of the previous mess as he attacked the now male Ranma.

"What's your problem, anyway?" Ranma asked. "Haven't you tortured me enough already, idiot?"

"I fight to free the pig-tailed girl of your vile clutches, heartless cad!"

"Whatever," Ranma said, jumping back from the kendoist.

"Ranma!" Ranko and Akane yelled as they ran over to join the two. "What the hell is going on this time?" Akane asked angrily.

"Kuno's lost what he had left of his sanity," Ranma shrugged as he regarded his fiancée and twin. "Hyah!" The boy jumped at Kuno and kicked him in the chest, and suddenly several flat white things fluttered out and Ranma picked them out of the air. "Wha…What the hell is this?"

"Heh," Kuno quickly recovered. "You look elsewhere during battle!" He said, slashing horizontally with his bokken. "YOU DO NOT TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!" Ranma jumped back as Kuno slashed again, this time sending vacuums of air pressure flying at the boy. "StrikeStrikeStrikeStrikeStrikeStrikeStrikeStrike!" The boy repeated himself annoyingly.

"Eyah!" Ranko and Akane dived as the vacuum speeded over them, cutting through stone ornament like a light saber through butter.

"Out of the way, idiots!" Ranma shouted.

"Eyes front, fool!" the girls snapped in angry response.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!" Kuno yelled as he slashed at Ranma again, this time vertically. Ranma dodged down and his foot blurred up into the other teen's chest area before he stood back up. Kuno stood for a second before falling over, this time, not to get up.

"Feh. So much for 'Kuno-Sempai'." The girls blinked as they ran over and inspected Kuno's body.

"That was pretty good," Akane acknowledged.

"Yeah, each blow was to a vital organ. Kidneys, heart, lungs, mouth, although I don't know about the brain…" Ranko looked up at her brother. "That was pretty amazing."

"Yeah, was nuthin'," Ranma said, looking rather unharmed, though his shirt was shredded up.

"Oh really? You sure? You didn't get hit even once?" Akane asked as she walked over to him.

"It looks like 'Kuno-Sempai' didn't have much," Ranma said, looking skywards. However, when Akane poked him in the ribs, he broke down, sobbing and caressing his injuries.

"'Kuno-sempai didn't _have_ much', did he?" Akane asked, indignantly. "What the heck had you so distracted anyway?" Akane asked as she saw the pictures on the ground. She picked one up and blushed. "I knew it! You're the biggest pervert in the entire world!"

"What is it, Akane?" Ranko asked.

"This pervert has pictures of his own sister taking a bath, me as the same, and himself as a girl!" Akane yelled, red faced.

"Hey! Those were Kuno's!" Ranma yelled back, offended.

"I believe him," Ranko said. "My brother may be a little weird, but he's not sick or anything," she admitted.

"Hey! I am not weird!"

"You change genders depending on water temperature. I'd hate to be you in a humid place," She shrugged.

"Oh yeah…damn…Anyway, who'd want pictures of a tomboy like you?" Ranma asked, grabbing the picture of himself. "I don't know how you'll ever find a husband. Now _me_ on the other hand…"

--

'I always did think that was an extremely weird thing for Ranma to say,' Ranko said as she looked at her brother who was on the patient bed in Tofu's office.

"Hmm…This is astounding!" Tofu said, rubbing his head in awe. "The wound from the sword is nothing compared to these other dislocations and contusions! What kind of thug did this?"

"Uh…ahem…" Akane twiddled her thumbs nervously while Ranko whistled innocently, looking around. Ranma groaned and turned his head towards the man with a pained expression.

"A…A…A dorky girl did this to me…" He breathed. Akane flipped the bed and the poor boy fell off.

"Say that one more time, Ranma!" Tofu looked at Akane with disappointment plain in his eyes. "I…uh…"

"You did this, Akane?" The man asked.

"…Umm…Well, that is…" Ranma looked up in disgust.

'What's with the sweet innocent bit?' Tofu slapped his knee and started laughing.

"Well, it figures! I had a feeling!" Everyone else in the room sweat dropped. "The way this joint's backwards…" He mentioned, grabbing Ranma's arm which was bending in a way it very well should not have. With a sudden force and movement, Tofu snapped it back into place and Ranma screamed. "That's Akane's touch all right! Ha ha ha!" Ranko and Akane nervously watched as Tofu did something that could only be called child brutality in what appeared to be an effective cure to Ranma's dislocated joints.

--

The two girls stood outside of the clinic and waited for Ranma to come out. After a short conversation with Tofu, the boy walked over and joined the two.

"Okay kids, I'll see you at home," Ranko said, jumping onto the fence and running off. "I have to go somewhere else first!" She called out as the other two watched in bewilderment. As soon as Ranko got out of hearing range, she leapt up onto a nearby roof so she could watch the two. After a bit a following, Ranma fell down. 'That must be the pressure point Tofu did as we were leaving,' She said. She watched as Akane sprayed the boy with a water hose and then picked her up to take home. 'They'll be fine.' She leapt into the air. "Levitation!" She flew over the roof tops at a much slower pace than she had flown in the dream towards the dojo.

-----

¯\(ºo)/¯


	4. The good Fang

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

This chapter's kind of long because I was unwilling to just let the Tofu/Kasumi part be posted by itself. Sorry if it's too long for anyway...

Also, any glaring errors will be fixed tomorrow 'cause I'm too lazy to fix it right now and I would like to get a response soon.

---Chapter 3: The good fang---

"HI-YAAAA!" Genma practically screamed as he met with his son in the air in identical high jump kicks, their equal momentum forcing both to stop in mid-air.

Right above the Koi Pond.

"Uncle-Saotome, Ranma-kun!" Kasumi called out. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Oh, thank you, Kasu-"

The two descended, and with a mighty splash reverted to their cursed forms.

-

Genma had already started eating while his son-turned-daughter was drying herself off.

-Starting today, I have a part-time job,- Genma-panda signed.

"Oh really," Ranma started. "You working for a zoo, pop?" she asked as she wrung out her shirt.

"I hear they're having a problem with the Panda Breeding program," Ranko spoke up. Before Genma could respond, she continued, raising her chopsticks in a thoughtful gesture. "I don't think I'm ready for a younger brother or sister. Especially by a different mother, when ours is still very much alive."

-WROO-O-ONG!- Genma-panda signed with veins near popping. Behind the anger however, was an odd mixture of fear and repulsion. It was one thing for Ranma to suggest such a thing, but for his daughter…and to sound so serious about it, too…

"Oh, then you'll be joining a circus?" Ranko said in a somewhat sure voice.

-WRONGWRONGWRONG-

"So, Ranma, morning work-out, huh?" Soun commnted jovially as he walked by the younger boy/girl, with a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Just trying to keep in shape!" the cheerful girl said as she wrung out her shirt and turned to face the older man with her bountiful beauties bouncing forth. Soun responded by nearly swallowing his toothbrush.

"You are unbelievable!" yelled out his fiancée as she poured a kettle of boiling water over the girl. "Have you NO feminine modesty?!" She demanded.

"Why should I have feminine modesty?"

"Ranko!" Akane yelled, turning to her friend.

"Why should he?"

"Because he looks just like you when he's a girl!" Akane yelled, face red. Ranko suddenly looked at Ranma.

"So?" the twins asked, impatiently.

"That means he'll be giving the pervert boys at school a peepshow of YOUR body," Akane said, punctuating the 'Your' by pointing at Ranko, "Every time he turns into a girl!"

"Huh," Ranko blinked. "Ranma, learn some feminine modesty." Ranma sighed.

"I guess I could do it at school. I mean it's not like I want to give those pervs a peepshow of my own sister," he said, glaring at Nabiki, who only smiled back at him. Ranko looked back and forth at the two- Since Nabiki hadn't been there to take credit about the pictures…

"By the way, Akane," Kasumi spoke up, "On your way home from school, could you stop by Tofu's? I borrowed this book from him, and I'd like you to return it," the girl said. Both Ranko and Ranma gave Akane side-glances.

"Actually…I don't think today is a goo—"

"She'd love to go," The twins blurted out simultaneously before blinking at each other. Akane glared at Ranma and then Ranko for a moment.

"Let's go to school!" Akane yelled abruptly, ending their breakfast and pulling the twins by their hair. She sprinted to school, and on the way there, Ranma was splashed with a ladleful of water courtesy your neighborhood crone.

"Akane, wait a sec!" Ranma said urgently.

"Yeah, hold up already!" Ranko yelled out just as agitated.

"Shut up, both of you!" She yelled. When they were in the yard, she immediately slammed her now female fiancé and friend into the wall, a hand on each one's chest. "Why don't the both of you keep your big mouths shut!?" She asked, livid.

"What do you mean, 'big mouth?'" Ranma asked.

"I mean about Tofu-sensei and…" Akane gawked at Ranma's chest. She opened the other girl's shirt to double check and stared incredulously. Ranma looked down at her, patiently. "Wh-when…"

"I told you to wait!" Ranma said indignantly.

"Uh, Akane," Ranko said.

"Don't think you're off the hook either!" She yelled, grabbing Ranko by the chest and pulling her against the wall, closer to Ranma.

"Akane-" Ranko started, pointing behind the other girl.

"What is…" Akane turned around, only to see the Hentai Horde leaning in on the three.

"Hey! Get your eyes outta there!" Ranma squealed, covering herself.

"Okay!" Akane yelled out, turning around to get in a fighting stance. "Who's first?" She demanded.

However, instead of the usual enthusiastic attack, the boys clenched their fists and all of them began shedding tears.

"Akane Tendo…we will accept your engagement to Ranma Saotome!" one of them said.

"Huh?" Akane, and Ranma asked in unison. Ranko was tiptoeing away.

"That's right," another said. "Now that we know how…close you and he are, there is obviously no hope for us."

"Hold!" cried out a voice. "The blue thunder admits not defeat!" Everyone turned to Kuno.

"Kuno was the greatest fighter of us," another said.

"And the greatest pervert too,"

"PERVERT?!" the mighty pervert-king roared indignantly.

"Hee hee, they don't know a real pervert when they see one," Akane giggled to her fiancé.

"Yeah, or they'd have realized what you were when you started coming here," Ranma agreed. Akane growled and clenched a fist. Ranma looked around in confusion and ignored Akane as she put her arm around her neck and started hitting her on the head.

"Where's Ranko?" she asked in confusion. The group froze and everyone looked around to see that Ranko was long gone.

"Damn!"

"We let her get away!" The boys dispersed and started looking around for the other girl.

"Feh," Kuno said arrogantly, looking at Akane. "I shall not give you up, my fierce Tigress. The Blue Thunder does not admit defeat! A hundred…two hundred kicks from a coward like Saotome Ranma do not even _itch_!" although Ranma was _slightly_ impressed that he had been able to keep count of how many times she'd kicked him, she was more annoyed by his later comment.

"Can't admit that you _lost_ can you?!" She asked indignantly.

"Ah?" Kuno, blinked, leaning in to get a better view. "Ah, but it is you! My pig-tailed goddess, you have returned to me! How I have longed to see you!" he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Whoa, Whoa. I thought you liked Akane?"

"'Like' does not begin to describe the feelings of devotion Akane Tendo doth bring forth from thine noble self,"

"Well, you know, she's watching," Ranma said, pointing at the other girl. They both turned to face her and she was creeping away the way Ranko had earlier.

"H-hey?! Where are you going?" Ranma asked. Suddenly, in a brilliant moment of inspiration—

"Please, Kuno-sempai…if you really love this girl, I won't stand in your way!"

"…H-hey! What gives here?!" Ranma asked nervously. She looked at Kuno and then Akane when all of a sudden—

"Oh, but I love you _both_!" Kuno declared, ready to raindown his love on them both. His face met with Ranma's foot and Akane's fist.

-

Ranko sighed as she watched the other girls play their softball game. She could see her brother showing off in the distance and she realized it was really annoying when it wasn't her doing the showing off.

'So what's supposed to come next anyway?' she thought to herself. 'Hmm, Ryoga's up next, then the golden pair if I'm correct,' She noted. There was a sudden crack noise and she looked at the batter. It was Akane, and she blinked, knowing that something was supposed to happen here.

-

"I'm sorry," Akane said as she walked side by side with her fiancé to doc Tofu's. "Does it still hurt?"

"Whoa." Ranma said. Akane looked up and blinked; there was a Panda sweeping the street in front of Tofu's. "Pop! What are you doing here?"

"Well well! Ranma and Akane!" Tofu said as he opened the door to his clinic. "This is Saotome-san. He started working for me today. Do you know each other?"

---

Ranko set her bag down in the guest room and started fanning herself as she left her room to get a snack. She noticed Kasumi was gathering up her things to go somewhere. She paused when the other girl picked up the phone and started dialed a number.

"'Nee-san," Ranko started. "Where are you going?"

"Ah, Tofu-sensei's clinic," the other girl said, turning to look at the other girl. "I'm just calling him right now to let him know…" She blinked. Ranko was gone.

--

"Who was that that called?" Ranma asked.

"That was the girl that Tofu likes," Akane said with a depressed smile. It was the smile of one who was facing a cruel reality. "She's on her way right now."

"Man…" Ranma started. "I gotta admit…your boy Tofu…" His expression was bordering pure awe. "Has got _some_ taste!" He pointed at the old woman who stumbled into the clinic on a walking stick.

"That's not her!" Akane yelled out, angrily.

"Guys, guys!" Ranko's voice called out and the younger girl nearly bowled over the old woman as she stumbled in, panting. She knelt over to catch her breath and suddenly Ranma's expression was grim.

'She's coming over right now, eh...?' He turned and started walking away.

Akane walked over to the other girl with concern. "Ranko, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Just then, Ranko addressed the entire clinic. "We have a Code Red, people! It's time to move out of here!" came the command. The lobby immediately burst into a scene of panic and the would-be patients all scrambled for the exits.

"Oh, that," Akane said, glad that her friend wasn't in any danger. "I knew about that, she just called here," She said.

"Oh, I thought maybe Tofu-sensei had picked it up and neglected to tell everyone," the other girl said. "You know how he freezes up. Let's get Ranma and…get the…hell...Where's my brother?" She asked. Akane looked around in confusion.

-

"Tofu-sensei," Ranma said seriously. "I think it's time you and I had a discussion."

"Eh?" Tofu blinked. "Sure. About what?"

"First off, I would like to know your intentions for my-"

"Oh, Ranma, did you want some tea?" the other man asked. Ranma blinked and accepted it. After a sip, he started again.

"As I was saying,"

"Oh yeah," Tofu said, remembering his balm from earlier. "I'm sorry, keep going, but could you sit down?" He motioned a chair and Ranma accepted.

"Ah yeah. Now, I wanted to know your intentions for my sister-"

"Good afternoon, doctor!" a new voice called out. Ranma never finished his sentence as a loud cracking sound resounded through out the clinic.

"Uh?!"

-

"Uh oh," Ranko said, nervously. "I think maybe we should leave."

"What? How can you say that? Your own brother is in mortal danger!" Akane said, wide-eyed with fear.

"Well yeah but-" Ranko was looking around nervously. "-_we_ don't have to be in mortal danger _too_ you know-"

"Come on, we're going to save him," Akane said dramatically.

-

"H-Hello, Kasumi," Tofu said.

"Oh my, is Ranma alright like that?" the young woman asked.

"Oh Ranma? He's been one of my regulars lately! Isn't that right, Ranma?" he asked, patting Genma-panda on the shoulder.

-I said I'm Ranma's FATHER!- the panda signed…as angrily as an expressionless animal could.

"So, Kasumi!" Tofu continued, oblivious. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, well I wanted to return that book you allowed me to borrow, as well as this…" She said, opening a box. "I'm not sure if this is adequate thanks for the book, but…" She held out a plate with a cloth covering it. Tofu snatched up the cloth and put it on his face.

"Oh, how wonderful! A mask! It's fitting very well, thank you!" the spectacled-bandit said.

"Ah, actually, I brought you this," Kasumi smiled, motioning the plate full of cookies.

"Oh!" Tofu grabbed the plate and chomped on it. "Very tasty!"

"Doctor?"

"Um…that's the plate…"

"DOCTOR!" Ranma yelled out angrily.

"Hmm? Is something wrong, Ranma?" the man asked bending over to face his young friend.

"My neck!" Ranma said irritatedly.

"Well, we'll have you fixed in a jiffy," the man said. He grabbed Ranma's head and with another loud **CRACK** the boy's head was flipped the other way entirely.

"Uh!" Ranma looked around nervously for help.

"Sensei! Please stop! You're hurting my brother!" Ranko called out as she ran into the room.

"Oh, Ranko-Chan!" The man started, concerned. "You know my methods may not be particularly painless, but they're efficient!" He said as he approached the girl.

"Huh?" She took a step back in obvious fear.

"Ranko, run!" Ranma yelled out, wide eyed.

"You have nothing to be afraid of! I'll fix that neck in no time at all!" The insane doctor chortled as he reached up with lightning quickness from years of practice of dealing with reluctant, fearful patients to grab her head as she made to escape. Ranko nearly screamed at what happened next.

---

Ranma and Ranko were walking home behind Akane, with their heads in opposite positions.

"Man, remind me never to get in a fight with that guy," Ranma said.

"Oh man," Ranko groaned in agreement.

---

Days later…

---

It was raining. Ranma-chan was running around the Tendo Dojo from three irate girls.

"No! No! NO!" She yelled as she was cornered. "I ain't wearin' no girl's clothes!" She yelled out angrily.

"All of your male clothes are in the wash and your sister's clothes will fit perfectly!"

"Yeah! You can't run around showing off _my_ goods like that!" Ranko scowled. "You look like _me_ when you're in your girl form, remember?"

"Dammit…"

-

A little later, Ranma was wearing some tight fit jeans and a shirt that wasn't exactly _too girly_; there weren't any kind of cutesy prints on it or designs of the sort. It was just a faded looking red t-shirt, though it was a little tight around the chest. She looked in the mirror and blinked several times; she didn't look half bad.

"Well? Well?" Ranko asked, with her arms crossed. She was wearing practically the same thing, except her shirt was white and sleeveless. "What do you think?"

"Aside from the slight tightness in the shirt, which I can't understand since we're the same size...Wow." Ranma said, eyes wide. "I'm hot! I'm way sexier than my own fiancée!" She clenched her fist and closed her eyes. "Oh, how embarrassing to be engaged to a girl uglier than myself…"

Akane, who'd been there just to see how much Ranma could suffer, grit her teeth. Ranko turned and looked at her frightened for her friend's health, as it looked like tiny bits of tooth were flying out of her mouth.

"Akane…" Ranko started with a warding gesture. "Please..."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" She announced, grabbing her fiancé by the pig-tail. Ranma yelped in surprise.

-

Ranko sighed as she sat above her brother-sister's mangled body. "You okay?"

"Yeah," the girl said weakly. "As if some dorky tomboy could ever hurt me."

"Good, because I'm going to start teaching you magic," She announced.

"Magic?" Ranma asked, suspicious. Her perception of magic was that it was mostly tricks used to achieve an unfair victory over an unaware opponent. When she voiced this opinion, Ranko was silent for a moment.

"Well yes and no. It's your own choice whether or not to use the magic. At the same time, magic can be as powerful as martial arts, your own curse a sign of this. Plus…" Ranko closed her eyes. "Levitation!"

Ranma stared up at her with eyes wide as saucers.

"There are practical uses as well, and our family school is based on aerial combat, is it not?" She asked.

"Uh…yeah," Ranma said. She floated over her. Ranma blinked when the other girl held her hands over her, closed her eyes and started chanting. After a little bit of this, the girl opened her eyes.

"Recovery!" Ranma's already incredible healing abilities were boosted by the spell and in seconds all of her bruises were gone. Totally gone.

"Whoa!" the girl exclaimed in awe. "Wait...Why haven't you done that _before?_" She asked indignantly.

"I'm still learning myself," Ranko admitted. "But if I get you up to my level, then we can learn at the same pace."

"What? Why teach me magic?" Ranma asked.

"You're my brother. And you can't really think I'm the only sorceress in the world, can you? Other fighters will use magic against you, Ranma."

"Well…" Ranma wanted to say that it was cheap, but the prospect of such power was amazing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to know a few helpful spells."

"Okay, the first and foremost basic spell…" She started.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain greedy panda was eagerly watching and listening, invisible to all but those who knew how to look…

---

All through out that week, Ranma had practiced magic in earnest. With his excellent learning curve, it was only two days before he managed to gain a basic understanding of how to use magic and the basic spell, Lighting, and he was already learning another.

One day, however, their routine was broken. On the way home from school, Ranma's eyes flashed with a danger sense he only associated to his father as well as a select few other fighters, none of them having a reason to be present at the moment.

"Prepare to DIE!" yelled out an angry voice from above. Ranma flipped just in time to dodge a fatal attack from another boy. The boy's umbrella slammed into the ground before he did, as his knees were up and he growled turning to face Ranma.

"You!" Ranma's eyes were wide with recognition as he scanned the boy's form. Ranko and Akane flanked his sides, Akane giving a look of confusion and Ranko a look of calculation.

'I wasn't quite prepared for this…I'll have to plan fast,' she thought.

"You haven't changed, Ranma. You're still good at running away."

"You know this guy?" Akane asked her fiancé.

"Yeah! Sure! He's…He's..!" The boy pointed at the other, who was wearing a yellow shirt and black trousers.

"Hibiki Ryouga," Ranko muttered.

"Yeah!" Ranma said, not bothering to ask his sister how she knew his friend's name. "He's my buddy from my old school! I used to walk him home all of the time to keep him from getting lost, 'cause his sense of direction's non-existant!" the boy said energetically. "Man, Ryouga! You look well! Keepin' up the training? I can tell!" He whistled at the crater.

"Don't try to act all friendly, Ranma!" Ryouga shouted, angrily. "Not when you ran off on our duel of honor!" he roared.

Everyone glared at Ranma, who was utterly dumbfounded.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Ranma asked, in honest confusion.

"Feigning ignorance WON'T WORK!" Ryouga roared as he attacked his 'friend'.

"Hey, man, if you wanna spar, just say so!" Ranma said, annoyed as he dodged the attack.

"Spar?!" Ryouga growled as he halted. "Don't make me laugh! This is revenge!"

"Huh?"

"No matter what it takes, Ranma…I will destroy your happiness!" The other boy declared. Ranma glanced around and spotted Akane.

"Hey, Akane." He waved over to her. "Do I look happy to you?"

"Don't ask me,"

---

Days later, Ranma-chan was sitting down with a towel, mulling over the Ryoga factor. Akane, Nabiki and Ranko were sitting behind her, drinking tea.

"So Ranma, just what did you do to him?"

"I really wish I could say I knew!" the girl said agitatedly.

"Maybe it was the whole running out on the duel thing," Ranko said, scowling.

"That's not my fault," Ranma defended herself. "He never showed up…I wanted to wait longer, but pops wouldn't hear it...and dragged me off in my sleep on the third night," She sighed.

"Dragged you off?" Akane asked, confused.

"That was when we went to China, see," Ranma said.

"T-to China?" Ranko choked 'Hmm...if I just play it cool and don't act like I know too much...I'm surprised they don't remember who recalled his name first...'.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "Remember? Jusenkyo, crazy violent chicks, etcetera, etcetera,"

'Violent chicks?' Akane blinked.

"Ranma! A letter arrived for you!" Kasumi called out as she approached the boy with a kettle. She handed him the envelope and the girl thankfully accepted the kettle, setting it to the side to mull over the letter. When she opened it, she sighed; as expected it was a letter of challenge.

"This seems more than a passing annoyance," Ranko said. "What could you really have done?"

"I wish I knew!" She said, exasperatedly.

"Hmm," Ranko said. "Ranma…this Ryoga guy is real persistent, from what we've seen so far. He's tracked you down this far, to Furinkan high, from wherever you lived before," She said.

"You know, I think I'm beginning to understand what may have happened," Nabiki said, looking at Ranko. Ranko looked at her and they both nodded.

"Ranma, next time you see him, toss some cold water on him," Ranko said suddenly.

"W-what?" Akane and Ranma mirrored looks of confusion at their siblings.

"Listen, Ranma-kun; as relentless as this guy sounds, It's safe to assume that he followed you to China, and well…Let's just say, you and Uncle Saotome didn't necessarily return the way you left, did you?"

"But…but his sense of direction…There's no way he followed us to China, it's just impossible," Ranma dismissed their assesment. "Hmm...what else could it be..." 'Wait a minute...that's right...I think I remember now...' But before she could begin her tale of the bread-feud--

"Sense of direction?" Akane asked.

"The Hibiki family curse," Genma said solemly.

"Huh? Old man?!" Ranko asked, "When'd you get here?"

"A horrible curse indeed," the man said with. "Oh, how I wish I knew about it before we made that agreement…"

"Agreement?" Ranma narrowed her eyes. 'Did the old man sell me out again?'

"The Hibiki family has absolutely no sense of direction. The entire family, I might add; even those who marry into it eventually develop it,"

"POPS! What are you saying?!" Ranma asked angrily. 'There's no way I'm marrying a boy, girl curse or not!'

"Well, you see, the Hibiki family trains in a very powerful art that can only be passed down in their family because of it's destructive capabilities," he said excitedly. "And you see, thinking only the best for my—"

"Self," the four girls corrected before he could make the mistake, but he continued anyway.

"Descendants," He snapped. "I thought it'd be best if we could integrate their school with ours in the only way possible." There was silence in the room for a while before the implications dawned on them as a whole, and everyone looked at Ranko, who's eye was twitching.

"Wow, so you engaged Ranma to two girls," She said, gritting her teeth and a faking a smile that said 'You're joking, but I'm not laughing'. "How naughty of you, silly father."

"Haha, actually, you see, they only have a son," He began, laughing as he scratched his head. "His name is Hibiki Ryouga and he's your betrothed, my daughter."

The teacup in her hand shattered, and the pulverized shards fell to the floor as the hot liquid dripped from her hand.

---

A week later, Ranma was standing across from Ryoga in the field for their duel. Ranko watched from the side with a worried look, with Akane by her side.

"Aren't you worried about your husband and brother fighting a violent fight to the death?" Akane asked in mock concern, stifling a giggle Revenge was sweet...

Ranko merely looked at her and growled. Across from them and the entire student body(Who knew a fight more interesting than any action movie was about to ensue) Ranma and Ryoga were having their own little discussion.

"So, Ranma. You finally have the guts to show up," The lost boy snickered.

"Listen, Ryoga...I didn't come to fight." The other boy said, regretfully. "Just... take this, okay?" He said, tossing something at the other boy. In the distance, Ranko sighed and put her head in her hands. Ryoga caught the curry bread and blinked.

"What _is_ this?" He asked, incredulous. 'He can't be serious.'

"Well? Makes us even, right?" Ranma said, cheerfully.

"What the hell is this?! This is _joke_ right?!" the lost boy demanded.

"Jeez, fine greedy. Here's your lousy chow mein bread!" He tossed another pack at Ryoga.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Well, this is a "Bread-feud", isn't it?"

"You think a bread-eating contest will make me happy!?" the boy demanded. "Besides...these are all past the 'Sell-by' dates!"

"Well, you kept me waiting a week!" Ranma said impatiently. "Man, why don't you just tell me what this is about already?"

"I shall!" Ryoga thundered, holding up his umbrella. "With my FISTS!" He jumped at the other boy and swung his umbrella, only to be dodged."Thanks to you, I have seen true hell!" Ryoga yelled out indignantly. He pointed his umbrella at the other boy. "Saotome Ranma...Kisama wo KOROSU!" He leapt at the other when suddenly, a red-haired girl jumped into the fray brandishing a water bottle and both boys froze.

"Ranko! What the hell are you doing?" Ranma asked nervously.

"I'm right, aren't I?" she yelled towards Ryoga, unscrewing the cap on the water bottle. Ryoga looked at her fearfully, taking a step back. "You'll turn into something else, too, won't you!" She said and swung the bottle, flinging water everywhere. Ranma managed to dodge by jumping away and the lost boy blocked it with his umbrella. Ranma just growled and grabbed his sister by the collar, before booting her away. He turned to face his rival.

"I'm sorry, she's just a little crazy," Ranma said, only to find blank space. His eyes widened and he jumped to dodge an incomming projectile. He blinked as he noticed the umbrella flying around and when he landed, he realized that the lost boy had some kind of cloth wrapped around his arm.

"You won't get away!"

"Jeez, how many bandanas are you wearing?" He asked as the lost boy tried several times to punch him in the face.

-

Meanwhile, in the air, Ranko noticed something flying her way. She blinked and caught onto the handle of the umbrella before blinking. As it was heavier than she, when she grabbed it, it didn't stop spinning. When she did hit the ground, she was somewhat disoriented.

"Err..." She dropped the umbrella as she realized how heavy it was, then wondered how it'd floated in the first place. "Damn, I forgot how strong Ryoga was. Better distract Ranma by yelling out 'He's as strong as a monster'. Or something,"

-

"Ranma! Stay out of his reach!" Ranma blinked as the Ranko yelled that and lost enough concentration for the lost boy's fist to graze his cheek, which alone was enough to draw some blood.

"Eh. Managed to cut me. I may have to get serious," Ranma said.

"He's got a demon's strength!" Ranko yelled out.

"Heh..." Ryoga snickered as he pulled his fist back. "Looks like you realized that..." He threw the punch, smirking. "A little too..." He blinked as Ranma fell down, then went under his legs and turned the lost boy over in a complete circle, using the bandana that tied them together against his opponent.

"What did I find out a little too late?" Ranma asked cheerfully from his position atop the other boy.

"You dare...try to push me..." Ryoga asked as he continued flipping over. Ranma blinked as he found himself hanging on to his now vertical opponent.

"Uh." He realized then that Ryoga was standing on one hand. Holding both of them up.

"...To my knees?!" The lost boy cried out as he used his _single_ arm to launch himself _and_ Ranma into the air. Ranma flipped them over again, landing on the ground with one hand and using the bandana to toss Ryoga to the side.

"Incoming!" Several boys shouted as Ryoga flew towards Ranko. The boy skid somewhat before stopping in the dirt. Spotting his umbrella, he reached for it and thrust it at Ranma's shirt. The boy barely dodged enough to avoid crippling injury, but his shirt was not spared.

"What the hell's the idea?! That was my favorite shirt!" the boy yelled out angrily as he looked down at the huge hole in it.

"This is a war!" Ryoga yelled out. "Don't be a girl!"

After that last line, there was silence as Ranma's eye twitched. And suddenly, the pig-tailed boy was a blur of rage.

"WHO'S A GIRL?!" He asked, infuriated as he jump kicked his surprised opponent in the chest over a fence. Ranko and Akane jumped after them to see Ryoga on a water fountain and Ranma in the air. "WELL?! WHO'S..." Ranma started as he crashed into the water fountain with a stone shattering kick that Ryoga barely jumped to dodge. "...A GIRL!?" The enraged teen yelled out, eyes wide with fury. There was a splash of water as the pipes broke and the pig-tailed teen stood there, totally unaware. Ryoga looked up at her with his umbrella out to block the water, and his jaw dropped.

"Well?!" Ranma asked. "Who's a girl?!" she called out angrily.

"W-wait..." Ryoga pointed and stuttered at the red-head. "W-who...what...where..."

"What's your problem!?" Ranma yelled as she scissor kicked his chin, knocking him back slightly.

"Who are you?" Ryoga asked, pointing.

"Who do I look like, you blind stupid jerk?!" She asked.

"Ranma, your chest!" Akane said as she neared the two.

"Eh? My...Oy," She blinked, wide eyed and covered herself with her hands. She growled and looked up at Ryoga bitterly. "Go ahead and _laugh_, why don't you?" She started. "I don't know what I could have done to you to make you so bitter, Ryoga...But look at me! I'm cursed with this body yet I take it in stride, treating others with kindness!"

There was silence, then suddenly, Ranko landed beside Ranma. Everyone looked at her, wondering where she'd come from, and she crossed her arms.

"It's not what you've done, Aniki," the girl started. "If Chichi-ue hadn't knocked you out and dragged you to China that night, neither of you would be cursed right now," She nodded sagely. Ranma's eyes widened significantly.

"How'd you know?!"

"Eh?" She blinked.

"I only told you that he did it when I was sleep, so how'd you know he beat me up?" Ranma demanded Ranko's eyes widened and she blinked.

"You mean...I was right?"

-

When everyone finally picked themselves up after face-faulting, Ryoga began laughing, and everyone looked at him in confusion, while Ranma merely brooded, convinced he was laughing at her curse.

"It is to laugh!" The lost boy said bitterly. "That...you call a **_curse_**?" He growled, grabbing his bandanas. "Whining about your misery...with such an adorable figure!" He shouted, jumping up and flinging his bandanas at Ranma. Ranko and Ranma both dodged and Ryoga continued after Ranma. "Ha! Such a JEST!"

As the bandanas flew around, Akane got it into her head to get some hot water for Ranma.

"Eh?!" Ranma asked, as she saw Akane running. "Akane, where are you going?!" She asked.

"Don't worry about it! I'll make it-" Akane tripped, and a bandana passed through the air where her head was.

"Idiot!" Ranma yelled as she dived for her fiancée.

"An opening!" Ryoga yelled as she threw his umbrella and readied more of his bandanas. "There's no way for you to dodge this!" He cried out. Ranma was about to kick the umbrella when a blur from the side knocked it out of the way just as Ryoga let go of his bandanas.

"A cheap shot in a duel of honor?!" Ranko cried out, indignantly. "Attack your opponent while he's helping the defenseless with his back turned? You brazen cur!" She accused, pointing at the other boy. He froze, blinking.

"I'm not defenseless!" Akane screamed.

"Ranko..." Ranma sighed. "Not now." 'Man, what's wrong with her today?'

"Go get some hot water or something, Aniki!" She said. "I'll hold him off!"

"Man, what is it with every girl and her grandma interfering in our _man-_to-_man_ fight today?!"

"JUST DO IT!" She screeched.

Ranma quickly nodded at this and took off after picking the umbrella. He opened it and leapt into the air.

"What do you want?" Ryoga growled angrily.

"Hibiki Ryoga," Ranko said, looking him up and down. "Not too bad. I guess I could have done worse," She muttered. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Huh?" Ryoga said intelligently. "I don't fight girls. I'm not some thug!"

"Liar! You just attacked my brother with his back turned!" She shouted, pointing at him. "My own twin! You shameless coward!"

"W-what?" Ryoga asked, eyes wide. "B-brother?" He blinked.

"That's right!" She took up a fighting stance. "If you want to fight him you've gotta get past me!" She yelled.

"Uh..." Ryoga was thoroughly perplexed. Ranma didn't seem capable of having such a nice, caring sister as this one obviously was. Add to the fact that was a vastly undeserving. "Listen, I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding..."

"No! I saw you! You were going to attack Aniki and Akane! Don't you ever take in your surroundings? How can you call yourself a martial artist?!" She pointed at him, accusingly.

"I...I-" Ryoga's eyes were wide.'She's right! I...I abandoned the code in my quest for revenge!' He shook his head. 'No! I can't falter in this! Ranma has made my life hell!' "I'm sorry!" He yelled out, jumping over her. "But I can't stop now! Not after the suffering I've endured!"

"Wait!" Ranko called out, attempting to follow him.

-

Ryoga found the two on top of a bike rack. He took off his belt and snapped it across one of the poles holding up the structure, cutting it twice. With it's support gone, it crumbled underneath the combined weight of Ranma and Akane.

Ryoga wordlessly reared back as he prepared to strike the two with his belt, and Ranma blocked it with the umbrella.

"Let me go!" Akane screamed at her fiance.

"What? You don't think that I'm holding you because I want to, do you?!" Ranma yelled back.

-

"Uhh," Ranko blinked and followed the sound of the slap that resounded throughout the yard. "Oh boy, here comes the good part," she sighed. After a few minutes, the field where Akane's hair got butchered came into view and she found Ryoga standing alone. "Damn, I missed the best part!" She walked down to Ryoga and growled. Ryoga looked over at her in surprise.

"Eh? Oh, you." Ryoga said. Ranko blinked at his face.

"That must hurt a lot," She said.

"Yeah, it does."

-

"I feel better now," Ranko said, rubbing hands. Even without the Bakusai Tenketsu training, Ryoga's face was still hard as rocks.

"What the hell was that for?" Ryoga asked absently.

"Whatelse? You were being a jerk, so I punished you." She hmphed, crossing her arms.

"Omae..." He growled. She took up a defensive stance.

"What, you wanna fight? Huh, punk?"

"Hmph...What are you doing?" He demanded. "Ranma and I agreed to postpone our fight until his fiancee was feeling better. I'm not as honorless as you think."

"You're gonna have to prove it." She said, unbelieving. "I bet you're as honorless as they come!"

"Wh-why you!" He yelled, raising his hand to his head.

"What, I thought you didn't attack girls?" She asked. 'Alienating someone has never been _so_ easy! Now he'll never marry me!' She inwardly gloated.

'Shouldn't use lethal force.' He berated himself and then went into an offensive stance. 'I'll go easy on her first. If she's as good as Ranma, then I'll have nothing to worry about.' "No. However," He said, approaching her. "I'm willing to teach a lesson to cocky female martial artists!" He shouted as he leapt at her.

"Uh?!" She blinked as he leapt at her. 'Maybe this was a bad idea!' She frantically dodged his attacks and jumped away to the right as he threw a particular clumsy roundhouse and kicked him in the hip, knocking him over before smirking. "Well then, _senpai, _teach me a lesson, why don't you?!"

Ryoga growled from the ground and then coiled up before using his arms to launch into her with his feet. She jumped back to dodge this and jumped up into the air, descending with a kick aimed towards his shoulder.

Ryoga smirked and caught her one handed before tossing her into the ground. She groaned as she slid across the field, then flipped and righted herself before blasting forward towards the lost boy. She was surprised when Ryoga met her charge and rammed into her shoulder with his own, stopping her momentum. She grunted and held the shoulder he'd hit as she jumped back.

"You're way too eager to attack," He snorted as if lecturing her. "You get fully devoted to each attack before you know whether or not it's going to hurt me."

'He's right,' she growled. 'I'm angry right now and that's not helping me at all.' "Thank you, _sempai_," She gritted through clenched teeth. The two circled around for a while and she leapt at him again, pulling her fist back for a straight horizantal punch. He smirked as he moved to block her and then blinked as she crouched down suddenly and smirked, calling out the name of her attack.

"Shoryuken!" She yelled as she sprung from the ground to give him a powerful uppercut, and the attack connected with his chin. Ryoga's eyes flashed as he flew backwards and he smirked, righting himself in the air.

'I've seen something like that move before,' He wiped his chin with the back of his hand and went back into his stance, grinning. '"Rising Dragon Fist" eh?'

"Heh," She smirked. "Did I hurt you, _sempai_?" This time, he lunged at her with his fist cocked back and she smirked and back-somersaulted towards him. He blinked at the odd motion and the moment cost him as she kicked him in the chin, knocking him back again and stopping his advance. "So, _sempai_," She started innocently enough, "How's the lesson going? Do I pass?"

"Grr," He growled before smirking. "Actually, that was just an assesment. Here's your first _real_ lesson!" He smirked as he ran towards her and smirked when she bent down to her knees. She called out the name of her attack "Shoryuken!" and he stopped his motion immediately. However, as she was already in the air and in the middle of her rotation, she was left completely open and he took advantage with an open-hand palmstrike to her hip.

Ranko's eyes widened and she clenched her teeth in pain as she was knocked onto the ground by his initial strike. When she caught him flying at her with both fists at his sides out of the corner of her eyes as she landed, she rolled to the side and allowed him to run right by her as she spun in place and ended standing up. 'It's been a while since I was able to fight with Akane like this!' She smirked but then faltered as she saw Ryoga jumping backwards at her, his knee raised. He kicked backwards, kicking her square in the same shoulder. She growled as she held her shoulder and rolled over to the side to dodge his next strike, a hammer fist, and had to block the scissorkick that followed it. She countered, grabbing his leg by the shin and pulling him towards her before uppercutting him in the pelvis. She smirked as his eyes widened with considerable pain and he fell, clutching his crotch. He lay crumpled on the ground, and groaning in obvious pain.

"Cheap...shot..." He called up at her angrily.

"Looks like I win, _sempai_," She smirked as she held her head up condescendingly.

"Not by a longshot!" The boy grumbled as he stood up angrily, baring his fangs.

"E-eh?" 'What the hell is this guy made of? Sterling Steel?' "Dude, it's obvious who outclasses who here. You should just give up," she bluffed.

"And accept defeat from a girl?" He laughed. "Ranma'd never let me live it down!" Snarling, he leapt at her, with his fist cocked back for a horizantal strike. She flinched and sidestepped him, before clutching her shoulder and ducking under a roundhose."I will not accept defeat from Saotome's younger sister!" He shouted.

"Hey, it's only by a few seconds!" She shouted. The meaning was lost on Ryoga as he continued to relentlessly attack the girl.

Ranko weaved around his attacks, her speed rapidly decreasing. The aches and pains in her shoulder, hip and where she'd hit the ground were building up and she'd be incapacitated soon if this kept up. She jumped back and held up her hands for one final attack. Ryoga looked at her hands as they started glowing.

"It's time for the Saotome Final Technique!" She said, with an air of drama. A ball of light appeared in her hands and started growing bigger. Ryoga's eyes bulged and he took a few steps back.

'What the HELL?! Could that be...a Chi attack!?'

"The power you see before you, in its weakest form, is beyond that of anything you have ever witnessed before." She told him with a superior voice. Fear engulfed Ryoga as she brought it down and closed her eyes. "LIGHTING!"

There was a flash- a damned _bright _flash that burned Ryoga's retinas enough to cause him slight physical discomfort, and...not much else. Ryoga clutched his eyes and blinked them slowly, trying to focus. When he looked around, he noticed there was no sign of the Saotome girl.

"..."

-

"WHAT KIND OF ATTACK IS THAT?!" a familiar voice resounded throughout the district.

Ranko winced as she leapt across the buildings of Nerima. The 'Fast Break' was meant for rethinking a strategy for your opponent, or so Genma and Ranma claimed, but she was using it for a full-out escape. Ryoga was way beyond her level - he was second only to Ranma(and the old ghoul/leech but they don't count) when it came to skill, and his punches weren't anything like Akane's at all. With Akane, she could have gone maybe another twenty to thirty minutes before either losing or tieing, or even the occasional win, but the Tendo girl did have the advantage of years of training over her, so it was inevitable of who would win.

"Ow!" She cried out suddenly. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" She cursed and stopped leaping across the roofs and landed in the street, panting. The pain was finally coming full blast, and without her blood pumped full of adrenaline, it hit her like a sack of rocks.

--

"That doctor called you cute. I thought you'd like that." Ranma said from the atop the fence he and Akane were on.

"...It doesn't matter anymore," Akane responded from in front of him.

"Oh right," He snorted. "'Doesn't matter!'"

"Tofu-sensei likes Kasumi, anyway. Not me." Akane continued, despite her fiance's sarcasm. "It's okay now. I guess I've finally gotten over him."

Ranma stared at the back of her head as he followed her on the fence. He jumped over her and turned to face her.

"You know, I forgot to mention," He said. "Your hair does look good like that."

Akane stared up at him.

"Are you **_ill_**?" She asked.

"Hey! Listen, jerk--"

"Just don't worry about it. You don't have to cheer me up." She said, walking away.

"You think that's what I'm doing!?" Ranma growled as he followed his fiance. "I try to compliment you an'-- Ah, who says you're cute?!"

"No one. I'm not cute."

"I just meant that I like your hair better!" Ranma continued. Akane turned to look at him. "I mean...that is...not that my opinion matters," He said, looking away. There was silence for a few moments before Akane finally called Ranma's name, and he turned to look at her. She was standing right next to him with a smile on her face and he blushed.

"Thank you. Even if you don't mean it...that's nice of you to say." They were silent for a few more moments before--

"Ohhhh..." groaned a nearby voice. The two looked around and spotted Ranko stumbling around across the street with a walking stick. "That was the dumbest thing I've ever done...urgh..."

"Ranko?" They asked in stereo. "What happened to you?!" they both leapt over to her, concern etched on her face. Ranko noticed Akane's now short hair-cut, the one that was a staple throughout the series.

"I see you finally took my advice," Ranko smiled at her friend. "I told you you'd look better that way. Short-hair has always suited you." Akane blushed at that.

"Err, well...Nevermind that! What happened to you?! You're all filthy and hurt!" She asked.

"Not much, just got hit by an eighteen wheeler," She groaned. "You don't look too great either," Ranko pointed at her eyes.

"It's nothing, I'm over it now," Akane said, remembering that she had been crying only moments before.

"Who the hell did this to you?!" Ranma demanded seriously. "I'll kill them!"

"Ah, it was nuthin," She waved it off. "I just picked a fight with the wrong kid. Of course, I _won_, but he got a few good hits in,"

"_He_?" Ranma asked. "What kind of disgrace would do this to a girl?!"

"A martial artist who knows how dangerous female martial artists can be," Ranko growled at her brother. 'I am _so_ going to hurt Genma,'

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked, indignantly. "Girls are-"

"Listen, I picked the fight, I won, so just shut the hell up! I don't feel like listening to your macho bull!" She growled, stumbling away. Ranma just stared after her and Akane glared at him.

"You need help?" Akane asked, offering her shoulder.

"I'm fine," Ranko snapped.

'She's so independant,' Ranma thought, annoyed. He growled and jumped behind his sister, picking her up off the ground.

"H-hey! Put me down, you jerk!" She yelled. "I'm not some weak little school girl!"

"Your dress says otherwise," Ranma growled. "Now I'm going to carry you home, and you're going to shut up about it. You got that?" He said. "And then you and I can spar when you're feeling better, if you're still mad at me for helping you."

"Fine, then I will!" She promised him. Akane smiled at that and followed, knowing that in their own way, the two siblings were bonding.

-----

¯\(ºo)/¯


	5. Ryoga's transformation and a Black Rose

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

For the sake of one reader, I've decided to try and cut down on my Japanese words used in the story. Although it will take a vastly significant amount of effort on my part, as I tend to watch the non-translated versions of anime/manga and it's easier for me to imagine the characters speaking Japanese, only names, techniques, and words that can only be translated to complicated phrases will remain in the original language, or so I'll try to keep it that way. The latter will be translated at the bottom of the chapter, if I can remember to.

Also, any glaring errors will be fixed tomorrow 'cause I'm too lazy to fix it right now and I would like to get a response soon.

---Chapter 4: The transformation of Ryoga and the Black Rose---

Interior of the guest room in the Tendo Dojo of Indiscriminate Grappling. A digital clock reads 2:06, and rain can be heard pattering on the roof of the home as three of the room's occupants can be heard sleeping (two of them rather audibly). The other occupant is sitting at the head of one particular futon, looking down at his prey.

"Wake up, Ranma. It's me, Ryoga." There was no response, and Ryoga blinked. "Fight me! Hey! Ranma!" The lost boy growled and his fist rose in the air before shooting towards Ranma's head like a bullet. He blinked as his fist impacted the ground and when he raised his hand to look at it, the pillow was around his arm, as he had punched a hole through it. He blinked again in confusion and glanced at Ranma. He struck again, only to find Ranma dodging him once more. He growled before inhaling a deep breath and—

"**_WAKE UP, DAMMIT!_**"

Instantly, the other three occupants in the room awoke. Ranko and Genma-Panda glared at Ryoga and Ranma.

Ten seconds later, the only ones left in the room were Ranko and Genma-Panda. Soon after, the dual trumpets were once again blaring at full blast.

-

Ranma screamed as his sister and father tossed both him and Ryoga out into the rain. With a splash he landed in the over-flowing Koi Pond and was totally submerged. The enraged girl scrambled out of the pond and scowled at Ryoga.

"What the _hell _was_ that_ for?" She demanded irritably of her rival.

"W-well you wouldn't wake up!"

"Oh yes, you just come at two o'clock in the morning and expect me to go 'Howdy Ryoga! What can I do for you?' No seriously, what are you doing here?! It's the middle of the night!"

"Revenge knows no night or day!" The eternally lost boy proclaimed.

"Quit that crap all ready!" She yelled, crossing her arms. "You've got nothing left to have revenge for!"

"…" Ryoga closed his eyes and Ranma could feel a tangible aura of anger emanating from him. "I'll tell you one thing before I send you to hell, Ranma. When you ran out on our duel, I followed you…_all the way to China_!" He announced. Ranma's eyes widened significantly at the implications.

"Y-you mean…" 'Nabiki and my little sister were right?!' "Y-you don't…you couldn't possibly have followed us to Jusenkyo?" She noticed his open umbrella and blinked. "You turn into something when you get wet?"

"SILENCE!" Ryoga commanded as he leapt at her, careful to shield himself from all water. "The time for words is OVER!" He went into a high-jump kick from there and Ranma jumped at him with the same attack. Suddenly, an iron bar with three large weights on each side slammed into Ryoga's head and Ranma blinked as the lost boy's umbrella slipped from his hand.

"Ryoga?" She blinked as the lost boy blurred to the side immediately before she could even see what he'd transformed into. "Ryoga!" She called out, but it was too late.

-

In the house, Ranko blinked at the dog that Ranma brought in.

"Ranma, what the hell are you doing with the Yamanes' dog?"

"…Eh?"

"That's the neighbor's dog. Why did you bring it in the house?" She said, angrily.

"Oh, well that, um…" She blinked as the dog cowered when Ranko approached it.

"Shoo! Get out of here!" She waved her arms at it and the dog yipped before bolting out of the house. Ranma sweat dropped and looked at Ranko. "I don't get along well with dogs." She shrugged before turning around. "Anyway, you woke me up again with that fight out there. Father is still trying to go back to sleep but I don't think he can at this point."

"Ranko? Ranma?" Akane asked as she walked into the room. Ranko's eyes twitched as she saw what was in Akane's arms and Ranma merely blinked. 'Think fast! How can I keep Ryoga from falling in love with Akane?! How!?' An idea started forming and she gasped.

"Is that a piglet?" Ranma-chan asked, scratching her head. "Where'd it come from?"

"Look at the cute little piggy!" Ranko _flew_ over to Akane, scaring everyone in the room. "Wow! How adorable!" She snatched it out of Akane's hands and clutched it to her chest. Akane blinked and looked at her empty arms.

"Uhh…" Ranma blinked and looked at Akane, who only shook her head and shrugged.

"Where did you find him?" She asked Akane. The pig in question was sweating quite a bit from his position between the redhead's bountiful bosom.

"It was in my room, soaking wet, the poor thing." Akane said, joining the other girl to poke at the piglet and what not. Ranma rolled her eyes and turned around, walking away. "Oh, where are you going?" Akane asked.

"To take a hot bath," Ranma said, annoyed.

"Oh, well take the pig with you," Ranko insisted, holding the little critter out. The porker squirmed uncomfortably and Ranma looked at her sister before the image of a boy wearing a bandana inexplicably appeared in her mind and she noticed what was around the pig's neck. A grin crept on her face and she gladly accepted the pig.

"I don't see any problems with taking a bath with this poor thing," Ranma said. "Soaked the bone, aren't you?" She walked away, cuddling the little creature. Ranko blinked in confusion and Akane stared after her.

"I didn't know your brother had the capacity for that kind of sympathy," Akane said, looking at Ranko. Ranko blinked.

"Actually, I'm wondering what just happened, too…"

-

"Okay, Ryoga," Ranma said as she held the pig above the furo with one hand. "Time to change back!" She slammed the pig into the water and after a few seconds of bubbles found herself sitting face-to-breasts with one Hibiki Ryoga. "Instant pain-in-the-ass mix! Just add hot-water!" She said, giving him the thumbs up.

"Ranma…" the boy growled. "You are _DEAD!_" He tried to punch the girl and she blocked it with a ladle.

"So, you _did_ go to the springs," She sighed.

"Indeed! Chasing you, I wandered the wilderness of China!" Ryoga said as he growled. "Days I wandered, until that fateful day…some strange girl chasing a panda knocked me off of the cliff and into the spring! Then…it was one horror after another!" He clenched his fist and eyes. "The hideous body that curses me…the devouring that nearly befell me…they're YOUR fault, Ranma!" He pointed at the girl. "Because you ran out on our duel!"

"Hold it, you jerk!" She screamed. "You were knocked into that pool by some weird girl, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why should you be mad at _me_?!" She indicated herself with her thumb. "You should be mad at that girl and the p-……" Ranma fell silent.

Suddenly, the door slid open and a panda with a towel around its neck stepped in. It blinked at the naked boy and girl before it immediately retreated, leaving only a sign with the phrase -E-Excuse me.- Before slamming the door shut. Ryoga went into shock and turned to face Ranma.

Ranma, for her part, was giving that year's best double fisted smile of cuteness. "Heh…"

"…Soooo…" Ryoga growled, climbing out of the furo. "That girl…WAS YOU! **RANMA!**" He thundered as he gave chase.

"Gaaaaaa!" She turned around and bolted away on all fours. Ryoga suddenly stopped advancing and when she reached the other wall with the showerhead, she turned to face him and almost immediately turned it on full blast.

She did not expect him to be standing there with a glazed look in his eyes and blood freely flowing from his nose as he crumpled over. It was then that she realized just _what_ he'd gotten a peek at as she crawled away. "Uhhh…" She poked his twitching form with a toe and blinked. "Wow. Okay. Wow."

--

Outside the door, Ranko was listening in confusion. 'Wait a minute. Ranma's supposed to scream at this part. And chase the pig out of the bathroom.' She waited a few more minutes before there was some more shuffling inside as she heard Ranma-chan's voice.

--

"Hey, wake up, buddy!" Ranma slapped Ryoga's face several times. There was no reaction and she sighed before carrying the boy over to the furo and submerging his head. There were some bubbles and Ryoga suddenly forced himself up from the water, gasping for breath and simultaneously coughing up water. Ranma quickly went to patting him on the back.

"What the hell," Ryoga said angrily. "Are you trying to drown me!?"

"Hell no! I just wanted to wake you up! You wouldn't even respond to my slapping!" She retorted, irritably. "Now Ryoga, let's talk this out, like grown men-"

"That's not possible," Ryoga growled. "Not when you're a woman!" He blushed, turning away.

"Oh, yeah," She said. She looked down at the water and flinched; it was clouded with the lost boy's blood and she definitely did not want to get in there. "Uh, well…Just close your eyes, okay!?" Ryoga complied but his face only became redder and he re-opened his eyes.

"It keeps…coming back to me…" He stuttered.

"Dammit," She growled as she walked away from him. 'Well at least I can talk to him while he's distracted and not trying to kill me,' the redhead crossed her arms and sat down, facing away from the boy. "Ryoga, You're not blameless in this mess either," She started. "I know it's my fault that you fell into the spring, but it's your fault for following me to China, and most of the blame rests on pop's shoulders 'cause he was the one who dragged me there anyway,"

"_My_ fault!?" Ryoga shouted, turning to face Ranma, before his eyes bulged and he turned away again. "How is _any_ of this my fault!?"

"I just told you, idiot!" She said, facing him. "Listen, I'm really sorry about your curse, but there's nothing I can do about it! And it's not like you're the only one, either!" He said.

"Don't _even_ compare our curses," He growled. "Your father turns into an endangered species, so the worst he has to fear is some over zealous zoologist or something, and you…look at yourself! You're still human!" He clenched his eyes shut. "You don't know how many times I've narrowly escaped death! Some people don't try to boil their pork alive!" Ranma-chan growled at this and turned to face the boy.

"_You_ don't know how many times I've caught men leering at my body," She replied in a low voice. "I can _feel_ them undressing me in their minds and then...and then..." Ryoga slowly opened his eyes to look at the girl. She was trembling, with her gaze cast towards the floor. "You don't _KNOW _what I've suffered since I had this curse! You _DON'T!_"

"That's nothing," Ryoga snapped. "The pain I've endured-"

"Don't talk to me about _pain_, asshole." She interrupted. "You know, I've learned more about a girl's body in the last two to three months than I did my entire life before then?" Ryoga sat there in shock as the meaning set in. "You don't know how confused I was the first time," She said in a shaky voice. "Pop ignored it. I could tell he knew what it was but he acted like it wasn't happening. You don't know what it's like to experience _pain_, so don't even start that bull with me!" She'd finally finished, looking him straight in the eyes.

Ryoga could only sit there in silence, staring at her.

--

"I'm going to have find the time to talk to him eventually," Ranko muttered. "Find out just _how_ much of a girl he becomes when he does. This kind of thing can't be ignored."

--

"I'm not tryin' to say your curse don't suck or nothin'," Ranko finally continued nervously. "But you can't say mine don't either, because you're not the one who has it."

There was silence for at least a minute as Ryoga processed that information. Then-

"It's still mostly my fault you were knocked into the spring, though," She said. "So I promise I'll make it up to you some how. But for now, there's not much I can do…wait, I know! If ever I catch wind of a cure, I'll make sure you get it first," She said.

"W-what?" Ryoga's eyes widened significantly. "You mean that? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course! If I wasn't so blinded with rage, I'd have never knocked ya in, right?"

"That's right," Ryoga snorted. "It's your fault."

"Don't be a jerk about it, I already said I was sorry," She snapped.

"…"

"Listen, it's been a while," Ranma said. "We should leave the washroom already. If you don't want them to know about your curse, you should hurry up and change back," She announced.

"Eh?!"

"A black piglet walked in, they'll be expecting a black piglet to come out," Ranma-chan nodded sagely, with her arms crossed.

--

Outside, Ranko hurried away from the door and went back downstairs. Soon, the door opened and a male Ranma walked out with the piglet on his shoulder. He dressed himself in his usual red and black before he went downstairs and found Ranko sitting in a chair, sipping some tea out of a cup.

"Oh, Ranma. I hope he wasn't too much trouble, was he?" She asked, looking up at the boy. Ranma shrugged and glanced at the creature on his shoulder before shaking his head.

"Naw, not really," He commented lazily. "I've seen worse."

"I can imagine," She muttered.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing!" She giggled, setting her cup down. She stood up and bounced over to the boy, taking the pig away from him. He blinked at her, sweating a bit.

'She's never acted like this before…oh well, she is a girl…'

"Come on, P-chan," She said, rubbing her nose against the little pig's. 'P-chan' for his part was looking around, nervously. "Now that you're nice and clean, you can come to bed," She said. Ranma's eyes shot open and he held up a hand.

"W-wait," He said. P-chan looked over at him with a relieved look. "I think it would be best if we uh, gave him to…Akane," He blinked. 'Wait a minute, the tomboy is a girl too…I think…' Ranko looked at him as if he'd slapped her and shook her head.

"No no no no. That's not possible, I can't have my little P-chan sleeping in the same room as her," She said, cuddling the little thing. Inwardly, she was ready to vomit, but there was no way she would give Ryoga a chance to fall in love with Akane, or even just be a pervert with the girl. At the same time, treating him like dirt when he was human would serve to keep him away from her. It was a foolproof plan.

"Uh, well maybe it would be best if we let him sleep—"

"He's sleeping in the same room I am," She growled, narrowing her eyes. "And that's final, big brother."

"…No way," Ranma growled. "I'm not letting him do that."

"Well if you want, you can make sure he stays on father's side of the room. But there's no way I'm letting him out of my sight," She declared. She made girly noises as she cuddled the thing to her chest and Ryoga quickly seemed to be losing conciousness. She held up the limp piglet and shrugged.

"I don't think you're fit to raise it. You nearly suffocated him!" Ranma said, snatching the pig away. She snatched it back and soon it was a tug-of-war with the prize as one black pig. It awoke and started squeaking in pain, and Ranko's eyes widened before she let go of it without warning and Ranma fell backwards.

"You poor thing," She cooed, snatching it away. "Ranma nearly pulled you apart!"

"That's not true! You wouldn't give him back to me!" He snapped.

"You be quiet," She instructed, petting the thing on its head. She walked away and left Ranma sitting on the ground.

"Damn," Ranma sighed. "This is going to be annoying."

--

After school, Ranma was once again a female and wearing Ranko's clothes, as all of his male clothes were dirty again. You'd think he'd learn his lesson about doing his laundry, but no.

And like last time, to take her mind away from being a girl, Ranko was instructing her in the ways of magic.

"So wait," Ranma said, confused. "How does the chant go, again?"

"Simple," Ranko sighed. "Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright, gather in my hand and become my strength! Fireball!" She tossed a small orange projectile at a straw dummy and it burst into flames, instantly. In seconds, it burned away to ash. There was a gasp off to the side and the twins turned to see Ryoga standing at the door. He was gaping at the place where the dummy was. "Oh, you," She growled. "What do you want?"

"Ranko," Ranma snapped. "He's a guest too, you should be a bit more—"

"That's all right, Ranma," Ryoga said, getting a hold of himself. "I don't need a girl to defend me," he sneered.

"What?!"

"Anyway," Ryoga chuckled, walking over to the girls. "What the hell was that?"

"It's a family secret, Hibiki_-san_," Ranko huffed, crossing her arms. There was a choking sound nearby and the three teens looked around in confusion. When the door suddenly closed itself, they all stared at it for a while.

"What the hell was that?"

"I think I might know," Ranko said, narrowing her eyes. "It's not important right now, though, but we should be more aware of our surroundings next time." She said.

"What did you come here for, anyway, Ryoga?" Ranma asked.

"Actually, I was looking for the bathroom," Ryoga said, irritably.

"I'll show you where it is," Ranko growled in annoyance.

"That's not necessary," the lost boy snapped. "This is just a new place for me, that's all. I'll find it on my own," He said, walking away. Ranko snorted and followed him.

"You can't be trusted in this house. Who knows what you'd do while Ranma and I are in here,"

"Ranko, I can do it," Ranma said, waving her hands. "I mean it! Really. You just stay here and I promise I'll have that spell down when I get back." She walked over to Ryoga and led him away by the hand. "Come on, P-chan, we're goin' for a walk."

"Whatever," Ryoga snorted, glaring over his shoulder at Ranko. Ranko responded by pulling her eyelid down and giving him a raspberry. Ryoga's eyes widened in anger and he growled, pulling away from Ranma. "Listen, you little brat, if you wanna go, I can take you anytime!" He said, pointing at her.

"Yeah, I'm sure you could, you honorless coward!"

"I'm not a coward, you, you…paipan!" Ranma and Ranko's eyes widened significantly and Ranko visibly quivered with rage.

"You bastard," she breathed before holding her hands up. "When I'm done with you you'll be the least masculine person in this room!" She thundered as her hands rose into the air, crackling with power neither of the other two had seen before. "Darkness beyond the twilight, redder than blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time-"

"That's enough!" Cried out a new voice. Ranko stopped her chant and the dark energies surrounding her vanished as she spotted Genma standing at the door. "Ranko! What in the world are you doing?!" He thundered.

"F-father," She said, looking rapidly from Ryoga to Genma. "I was…" 'Wait a minute, what the hell am I nervous about?!' "…I was about to turn him into a eunuch," she growled.

"That would not be in your best interests, daughter," Genma said. "After all, how can you marry someone who doesn't have--"

"That's the _idea_," She hissed.

"W-wait. Marry?" Ryoga asked, his eyes widening to ungodly proportions. Ranma's eyes widened with recognition and she did the fist-in-palm pose.

"That's right! Our Pop arranged with yours for you to marry sis," 'So he can get his hands on your secret technique or something.' "So you can integrate the schools or something."

"That's right exactly," Genma grinned at his son-turned-daughter, who was conspiratorially grinning back. They _both_ wanted whatever technique it was that Ryoga had. (Actually, Ranma just wanted his sister and friend to suffer the way he was, and the possibility of a new technique was a bonus. Ranma also had an idea of what that technique might be.) "Hibiki-san and I agreed that it would be in the best interests if our children combined techniques to make a truly powerful school." 'I had wondered why they were so desperate to marry their son off. Now I know that no one in their right mind would marry the poor lost fool,'

"I can't believe this," Ryoga growled. "It's not like my parents to do something like that behind my back! I _won't_ believe this!" Ryoga said, clenching a fist.

"Behind your back? Boy, your parents hadn't seen you in a month when we made the agreement," Genma snorted.

"Show me proof of this pact!" Ryoga roared.

"It's right here in print," Genma snorted again, holding up a photocopy of one of the original documents. The fine print was illegible from Ranko and Ryoga's distances, but the Hibiki Clan and Saotome Clan seals were both visible on the paper.

"Did you even talk this over with mother?!" Ranko asked, angrily.

"Of course I did," Genma snorted. "Not that I needed to, but I thought since she was raising you, she would know you best and I couldn't very well pick the wrong person for my little girl," He said reassuringly. 'She had almost given up hope you'd ever find a husband.' "Now what is this nonsense? Girl, I already told you that Hibiki Ryoga was your husband-to-be, why aren't you warming up to him?"

"As if," She growled. "I can't marry this honorless coward!"

"Ranko, It's not that big a deal. I mean, I'm already engaged to Akane. Ryoga's not that bad of a guy, and you're wrong about him being honorless; he almost always officially challenges me before he gets the stuffing beat out of him," the girl piped up, patting her rival on the shoulder. Ryoga growled at that but turned to Genma while Ranko glared at her brother.

"I'm sorry, Saotome-san, but I can't marry your daughter. She's an immature tomboy." Ranko's eyes widened at the insult that was usually directed towards her friend and she clenched her fingers.

"Nonsense," Genma insisted. "She's just nervous about it and taking it out on you,"

"Father…" Ranko growled.

"Come now, Ranko," Genma said in a commanding voice. "Apologize to your fiancé!"

"Apologize to him? Father, he called me paipan!"

"Apologize!"

'I don't believe this!' She bubbled with rage and looked over at Ryoga.

"That's okay," Ryoga said, walking to the door. "I don't need her apology. I think I should leave, actually."

"Wait, boy!" Genma said suddenly. "It's a formal agreement! You can't just_ leave_ without marrying my daughter!"

"Oh yeah? What did we get for a dowry?" Ryoga asked, seriously.

"Uh, well…" Genma blinked. "Our house,"

"But his house is bigger than ours," Ranko said. Genma glared at her and tried to think of something else – fast.

"As well as joint ownership of what will then be the Tendo-Saotome Dojo, to make it the Hibiki-Tendo-Saotome dojo,"

"W-what?!" this time, all three teens reacted.

"We can't give him something we don't own, pop," Ranma-chan growled.

"We will own that, because you're marrying Akane, remember?" Genma smirked.

All of the teens present looked at each other and started cracking their knuckles and Genma had this strange feeling of impending doom and the instinct to run.

---

Ranko opened her eyes slowly and sighed. 'Man, I became my brother yesterday,' She thought to herself. 'I can't wait until the other fiancées…and fiancés start showing up.' She thought bitterly, closing her eyes and wishing she could go back to sleep.

"Ko-chan," came a familiar voice to her side. "It's time to get up. The baby needs you,"

'Ko-chan? Baby?' Ranko rubbed her eyes and found herself answering back. "Just a little more," She grumbled.

"Ranko! Come take care of your brat already!" Came another familiar voice. Ranko groaned as an infant's whining became apparent and she sat up in bed, turning to get up, when she realized her state of dress. 'What the hell is goin on?' Ranko yawned and threw her own clothes on without worrying about a bra and headed to the guest room. It was decorated as a nursery and the reason why was soon apparent; there was an infant in a crib in the center of the room. 'It's the Tendo-Dojo still, but what the heck? What's going on!?'

"There there, Ryoko," Ranko cooed as she approached the baby's crib. "Mommy's here," She said. 'Wait. Mommy? What…the…hell…' She picked up the whining child and got a good look at it.

The child had a pig-like snout and animalistic beady black eyes as well as black fur growing on its entire body.

---

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Ranko screamed as she shot up from her futon, eyes wide and with ragged breaths. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" She looked around and noticed she was the only person in the guest room. A glance at the clock told her it was almost afternoon. 'Oh yeah, it's Sunday. No school.'

-

When Ranko got out of the furo, she put on a simple red sundress and put her hair in a ponytail. As she ambled around the house trying to think of something to do, she heard noises coming from the Dojo and decided to check it out. When she walked in, she noticed Ranma sitting on the sidelines while Akane was messing around with a hoola-hoop, a ribbon, and some clubs. She spotted P-chan leaving the dojo and blinked, before realizing what he was up to. Finally, when Akane gave up, she sat down next to Ranma and started crying while waving her arms.

"I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz! I'm a klutz!"

"What can _I_ do about it?!" Ranma asked.

"Err, Akane," Ranko inquired while she walked into the dojo. "What's going on?"

"Yo," Ranma called out, raising a hand in greeting. Ranko waved back and sat down on the other side of Akane. Akane blinked at her friend and looked her up and down.

"You rarely wear dresses outside of school."

"I know," the redhead nodded. "So what's up? What are you doing in here?"

"Eh," Ranma said. "The rhythmic gymnastics team begged her to take over their part in next week's match," Ranma started.

--

Upstairs, Soun was enjoying a nice, hot bath. The water was working wonders on his muscles and stiffness, although being a rather lax man he didn't have much in the way of tension. 'Hmm, maybe now that Genma is here, I should re-open the Dojo. Two well known, _experienced_ masters will better attract students than two barely-adults, and with the marriage nearing, it won't be long before we can retire, and Akane still hasn't reached master level of the Tendo-Ryu. Oh, if only the gods could send forth some sort of sign—eh?' He blinked as he noticed a small black piglet enter the washroom and leap up into the furo. There were some bubbles and suddenly an unfamiliar young man stood up from the furo before walking away.

Soun merely stared in the direction he'd gone. After at least a minute, he looked up at the ceiling.

'What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean?'

--

"And so you just blindly accepted the position," Ranko said, grinning. "Even though you know you suck at gymnastics." 'Hmm, I totally forgot about this part. I don't have a plan at all.'

"Hey! You're one to talk!" Akane said angrily.

"Heh, I never really tried," Ranko shrugged. "I've always thought of Rythmic Gymnastics as a joke. I've heard of martial arts eating styles that can be taken more seriously."

"Really? Like what?" Ranma asked.

"Something called 'parlay foie du gras' or some such. I'm not quite sure how it works, only that it can be used to lose weight while being fed a full course meal. And I mean _full_ course. As in royal banquet."

"That sounds incredible," both other teens responded with wide eyes.

"I know, that's why I wanted to learn it. Unfortunately, I couldn't really find out much about it." 'Heh, I've been practicing it ever since those two came here, actually,' she thought in reference to Genma and Ranma. The old man had decided she needed to be on the same eating regime that he and Ranma were on, and neither of them had noticed her flinging her food into their mouths simultaneously stealing theirs, letting her own food serve as a distraction to the two. "But about this…rhythmic gymnastics," She spoke up. "What do you plan to do about this?"

"I can help with that," Ryoga's voice came from the door. Ranko groaned and put a hand on her head while Ranma blinked.

"You know rhythmic gymnastics?" Ranma asked.

"Yes. My expertise particularly shines in the mastery of the fighting component."

"Figures you would know a girl's sport," Ranko snorted, crossing her arms.

"Figures you wouldn't," Ryoga smirked as he walked into dojo.

"Why you…" Ranko growled as she balled up her fist.

"Ranko! Ryoga! That's enough!" Akane said. "If Ryoga's willing to help, let's not alienate him!"

"I dunno," Ranma said. "Let's see what he can do first," the boy suggested, standing up. Ryoga nodded and picked up the ribbon and the two walked out into the center of the Dojo. Ryoga began twirling the ribbon in a spiral before him and nodded at Ranma.

"Come at me from any direction."

"You got it," Ranma smirked as he speedily charged the lost boy. Ryoga didn't even flinch when Ranma disappeared from view and he felt his danger sense flaring behind him. Instantly he turned without moving his lower body and swung the ribbon in a complicated blur. Ranma was tangled by the ribbon and Ryoga flung him into the ground with the ribbon before snapping his wrist up and the ribbon easily un-entangled itself from Ranma.

"W…wow…" Akane breathed.

"Hmph," Ranko crossed her arms.

"You can teach me how to do that?" Akane asked, stars in her eyes.

"To save the honor of your school, I can try," He shrugged. "Will you accept me as your teacher, even after what I did, though?" Akane blinked as she tried to remember what he'd done.

"O…of course," She said. "I'd been meaning to cut it, and you only forced me to go along with a decision I'd made a while ago."

"I…see." Ryoga said, turning to his rival who was standing up. "In that case, the training must begin immediately."

'He seems to be neutral with her,' Ranko said. 'I'll have to keep him from getting too close to her if he's to remain friendly with Ranma.' "If Akane's going to learn it, I will too," Ranko declared, stubborn.

"O-oh?" Ryoga stuttered. "Well, I suppose." He turned to face Ranma. "What about you?"

"I think I'll just watch," The boy said, putting his arms behind his head as he approached the wall.

-

Soon, it was nighttime and two of the four teens were exhausted from training, and another was merely exhausted from boredom.

Ranko panted as she glared at her snoring brother for a moment before looking up at her instructor. The entire day he'd been glancing at her from time to time while instructing Akane, so she'd had to listen to what he told Akane and just try to replicate it on her own. She thought that she did fairly well at it; she wasn't tangled up in her own ribbon like Akane was and her hoop didn't sport any of the duct tape that her friend's did.

"That's enough drilling for today," Ryoga called out suddenly. Akane panted as she dropped the rubber ball and fell to her knees.

"Thank you…so much," The Tendo girl panted.

"You're…doing better than you were earlier," the lost boy told his student. "We still have a week left, so do not despair."

"You're right," Akane nodded.

"Hey! What about me?!" Ranko called out. "Aren't I doing better too?"

"You two should go take a bath now," Ryoga ignored her and made to leave the dojo.

"Hey, you jerk!" Ranko growled.

"Ranko, I would give up if I were you," Ryoga said. "It's just not in your nature to be feminine." He turned around to smirk at her but all he saw was a red rubber ball rapidly closing in on his face.

-

"It's only a week before the match," Akane said sadly as she and Ranko sat in furo. Ranko sighed and rolled her eyes.

"It's not like it's the end of the world if we lose, its just gymnastics and there's the fact that this other school has had far more practice than either of us. There's no need to get so upset about it."

"But still…"

"You just don't want to lose is all," Ranko snorted.

"Hey! If you were the one in my position, you'd hate the idea of losing too!" Akane said, knowingly.

"Well…That's…" Ranko blinked. There was silence and the two teens tried to relax in the hot water.

"Hey, Ranko," Akane started. "Why do you dislike Ryoga so much? He's such a nice guy."

"Right," Ranko snorted. "You know, he's the biggest pig in the entire world. He'd take advantage of a girl in ways most guys couldn't even dream of."

"That doesn't sound like him at all."

"Whatever," Ranko snorted.

"He's not even once tried anything perverted!"

"Neither has Ranma,"

"Don't change the subject!" Akane pointed at her friend. "You're just mean to him because you don't want to be forced into a marriage with him, am I right?"

"Look who's talking," Akane ignored her this time.

"I bet you'd get to like him if you could be friends with him. He's calmed down about his revenge against Ranma, hasn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but that took a lot of effort on big brother's part," She growled.

"Then why don't you give him a chance?"

"Because!"

"That's not a good reason," Akane snorted.

"Well…he…"

"You can't think of a good reason not to like him, can you?"

"Akane, this discussion is over," Ranko said in a cold voice, getting out of the furo.

"Hmph, fine." 'Ranko's never had a real boyfriend or even a crush on someone before. She doesn't know what kind of chance she's missing here! Ryoga's one of the nicest boys I've met in my entire life and she's…she's…' Akane shook her head. 'I've got to find some way to get them together.'

--

"It's embarrassing to watch," Ranma said from atop a stone ornament. He span a rubber ball that belonged to the gymnastics team on his finger as he sat with Ryoga.

"Sadly." the lost boy admitted. "I don't think either of them will be ready by next week."

"I thought Ranko was doing all right,"

"Feh. That might be true, but this other school is likely to be at expert level. You can't become an expert in a week."

"Heh, I probably could,"

"Hmph, how arrogant."

"But it's true. I'm the best there is," Ranma snorted.

"Heh," Ryoga stood up. "Care to test that theory?"

"I've been waiting for that all day," Ranma smirked as he stood up. There was a noise above them and they both turned to look up. They saw a silhouette of someone on the roof of the Tendo estate and they both looked at each other before jumping leaping up into a tree and then onto the roof.

"Who was that?" Ryoga asked, confused. "A burglar?"

"I dunno, could be. Who else would try coming up here this late at night?" Ryoga nodded and cracked his knuckles.

"Well, I doubt they'll get very far," Ranma laughed. "This part of the house is Akane's room." He turned to Ryoga and sneered. "Now, weren't we doing something?"

Ryoga's answer was a smirk.

--

Ranko blinked as she heard a crash from Akane's room. She finished putting on her nightclothes, ran for the door and slammed it open, looking around.

"Akane! What's going on in here!?" She asked. She heard a groan behind her and turned to see a strange girl in a black leotard sandwiched between the open door and the wall. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Ugh," She coughed. She pushed the door away and stood up before somersaulting over them and twirling a ribbon she hadn't been holding earlier. Ranko briefly wondered where it came from when suddenly black rose petals started flying around the room in the shape of the ribbon's spiral. The girls gasped as the other girl bounded onto the window and sneered. "I will be back!" She called before jumping up.

Ranko and Akane were speechless.

--

Ryoga smirked as he caught Ranma's punch and countered with his own strike. The other boy niftily ducked under the punch and fell to his back, throwing Ryoga over himself. He stood up and went back into his stance only to see a girl suddenly jump into Ryoga's trajectory. His eyes widened and he called out a warning. The girl reacted by turning in time to see Ryoga flying at her, attempting to regain balance in the air. The boy managed to flip his body in a way that made him fly over her and he landed behind her.

"Wh-what…" the girl blinked as she looked at the boy who'd cried out in warning.

"Are you okay?" Ranma asked as he jumped over to the girl. Ryoga stood up and dusted himself off like nothing had happened and looked at the girl.

"It's not safe to jump into a fight between us like that, miss." He said evenly.

"Ah…I'm sorry," She said, noticing the other boy for the first time.

"Well, what are you doing here?" Ranma asked, scratching his head.

"She was just leaving," came two familiar voices from the side. Ranko and Akane were standing there, tapping their feet.

"Ah…yes! Ohohohohohoho!" The girl gave a laugh that disturbed everyone within hearing range and leapt away.

"…"

---

The next day, as the trio walked to school, they were ambushed. Kodachi dive-bombed Akane with wooden sword, which the other girl caught barehanded.

"Look at you! Ambushing us already!" Akane accused. "It's too early for this crap!"

"How absurd!" Kodachi returned. "I have merely come to meet the handsome young pig-tailed man who saved me yesterday!"

"Then go…see him!" Akane got a better grip on the sword and tossed the girl away…unfortunately, towards Ranma. Kodachi flipped in the air and landed just in front of the boy. Ranma raised an eyebrow as the girl smiled demurely before covering the remaining distance between the two in less than a single second.

"Err…" Ranma slightly cringed; there was a tangible aura of insanity emanating from the girl and it was reminding him of a certain wooden sword wielding foe of his. "C-can I help you?"

"You can," The girl leaned in and put her hands on his chest. "Tell me, kind sir. What is your name?"

"R-R-Ranma Saotome." He said simply.

"Ranma…" She sighed. "Oh my lord Ranma…such a magnificent name…" Ranma's eyes bulged as he felt something… grabbing him. "…and so fitting, too…"

"A-A-AAAAAAH!!!" Ranma screamed in a not-so-manly way before running from the lunatic. Akane and Ranko sweat dropped as he bolted from the school grounds, only to have Kodachi give chase.

Ranma's mind was a blur. 'Shejusttouchedmethereshejusttouchedmethereshejusttouchedmethereshejusttou-' "OOF!" He cried out intelligently as he fell down. He looked up at what he'd run into and sighed with distaste. Tatewaki merely looked down at the other boy as he stood up.

"Saotome. Do you bear some odd grudge against me?" He asked plainly.

"Err, well you see…" He stopped as he felt something grab him from behind.

"Ra N Ma…" Kodachi sighed as she hugged him from behind. Ranma began sweating and focused straight ahead to avoid looking at her.

"Hmmm…" Kuno said, circling around them. "Yes."

"Y-yes what?" Ranma asked, as Tatewaki brandished a fan.

"You have my permission to go steady."

"W-W-WHAT?!"

"Oh, Ranma-Sama!" Kodachi cried as she hugged him. Ranma was about to react when all of a sudden, Ranko appeared between him and Kodachi.

"NO!" She shouted vehemently. "Ranma is not allowed to date you, this I say as his sister!"

"His _younger_ sister," Kodachi sneered at the shorter girl. She couldn't have been less than a year younger than the two of them--

"It's only a few minutes! Why does everyone point it out!?" she shouted angrily.

"Regardless, who my Ranma-Sama dates is not up to you," Kodachi snapped.

"You…You!" Ranko seethed. Ranma booted his sister away into the distance and looked at Kodachi angrily.

"Now hold on! When did I ever become _your_ Ranma? I have no intention of da…ting…" He slowed down as Kodachi's eyes were suddenly overflowing with tears. "Uh, hold on now…you don't need to cry…"

"You HATE me?! Is _that_ it?! Am I that repulsive?!" She demanded.

"YES! THAT'S IT _EXACTLY_!" Shouted Ranko as she appeared between the two again. "YOU'RE AN UGLY, CRAZY, CREEPY LITTLE TROoooollllop…" Her voice faded as Ranma booted her away again.

"Actually," Ranma started. "I already have a fiancée, see!" He leapt over the fence of the school yard, before returning with Akane in his arms. The girl looked very bewildered and it was apparent that Ranma had grabbed her without warning.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Are you really his fiancée?" Kodachi asked the shorthaired girl.

"Eh? More or less," The Tendo girl shrugged. Ranma fervently nodded his assent with that statement.

"I see." Kodachi started. "Well then, girl! I challenge you for the ownership of your fiancé!" She declared loudly. "I am Kodachi, the Black Rose!" She said as she leapt up to the fence. "We shall meet again! Ohohohohohoho!" She leapt off and away, leaving four very disturbed teens.

"For some reason, that laugh gives me an incredibly horrible feeling of foreboding. Almost as if some horrible person is about to make her presence known or something." Ranko spoke up.

"That would be because you used to have a friend who did that all the time, did you not?" Said a new voice. All four teens turned to see a smiling purple haired man dressed in a grey business suit with a briefcase standing to their side. "You remember Gracia, don't you?"

"Don't call her that," Ranko shuddered. "Naga matches her personality way more."

"Ranko, Sensei…who are you two talking about?" Akane asked, curiously.

"It's…it's nothing," Ranko waved it off. Akane and Kuno accepted this, but Ranma merely narrowed his eyes.

'She's hiding something…something big…'

"Ahem, anyway!" the girl said cheerfully. "What do you plan to do about that monster woman?" She asked. Kuno snorted.

"Monster woman indeed," Kuno said as he began walking away. "My sister would not hesitate to cheat in the upcoming match. It would be best if you could proceed with caution, Akane Tendo."

Akane and Ranma froze as the realization set in on the two.

"S-sister?" Ranma repeated.

"Oh my," Xellos said suddenly as he looked at his watch. "We have three minutes until class starts. I would advise you make haste, children." Ranma turned to look at the man just as he vanished, and his face went pale.

'He…he vanished…'

"Man, that guy's such a show off," Ranko growled. "And he's never a big help when you need him to be." She and Akane grabbed Ranma and ran for the school.

---

A week later, Ranko and Akane walked into the dojo wearing leotards with Ranma close behind.

"I still can't believe the nerve of that hag," Ranko growled. "Treating my brother as if he was some prize to be won, instead of a person!"

"Er, well…" Akane stuttered nervously. She hadn't exactly denied the challenge, which made her a guilty party as well, but why bring that up?

The two began sizing the other up; Ranko wielded dual clubs and Akane a ribbon. Ranma was sitting on the sidelines, watching.

Akane snapped her ribbon and Ranko jumped to the side, barely dodging it. Ranko tossed a hoop at Akane with her toes and dived at her when the projectile distracted her. She swung the two clubs at once and Akane snapped the ribbon up, grabbing both of the clubs with the ribbon and using them to toss her partner away from her. Ranko let go of the clubs and grabbed a rubber ball, hoop, and ribbon. Akane used the ribbon and clubs as an effective ball-and-chain attack, snapping the ribbon at the other girl until the clubs fell loose. Ranko jumped up and flung the hoop at Akane before flipping in the air to dodge the ribbon and spiked the ball at her opponent. Akane dodged both projectiles, only to find herself wrapped up in Ranko's ribbon. She kicked the rubber ball off to the side and it bounced off the wall before returning back to hit Ranko in the head from behind, and the girl dropped the ribbon as she rubbed the back of her head.

Ranma whistled, slightly impressed at the display, and the two girls continued their little sparring session.

"They have been getting better," Ranma thought aloud as the two girls engaged each other. He soon became aware of a presence to his side and blinked; sitting to his side was none other than P-Chan with some strange boxes tied to his back. He looked at the little pig and blinked. "Oh, there you are. Where have you been, Ryoga?" He asked as he snatched the boxes away. "Cinnamon crackers from Hiroshima…Tea cakes from Kyoto…" He looked down at the piglet. "Just where were you _headed_ the whole ti-"

"AHH!" "OWW!" Ranma and P-chan blinked before turning to look at the girls. A ball was rolling away from the two and Ranko was lying on the ground unconscious while Akane cried as she rubbed her ankle.

"Uhh…" They both looked at each other.

-

"Uh…What happened?" Ranko blinked open her eyes and looked around. She was in the guest room, and the morning sun gleamed in through the open shoji screen. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before looking outside. "Eh…I guess today's the match." She blinked as some loud banging sounds became apparent and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I thought those two would have avoided staying up all night if they weren't trying to kill each other," She mumbled. "Hmm, what am I going to do today…I've got to make that match easier on Ranma _some_how…Oh! I got it!" She cackled as she rubbed her hands together in cruel delight.

Genma watched his daughter with more than a little bit of fear.

-

Later that day, Ranko walked into the school building, wearing the tight jeans and red shirt she'd lent to Ranma the other day. Her hair was brushed down and she smirked as she put a hand on her hip while walking in with a seductive gait. She pulled out four daggers and started juggling them. Several students watched, impressed, as she effortlessly tossed the knives up, catching them, and repeated the motion. She chuckled as she walked down the corridor that lead to the gymnasium. Once she got in, she whistled, impressed by the massive crowd.

"All these people have come for a fight that won't be lasting more than twenty minutes, and judges project to be a forfeit match before it even starts." She chuckled again as she continued juggling the knives, walking down the steps that lead to the floor. "Heh. All I have to do is Shadow Snap the ring, and those girls underneath it won't be able to move it. In theory, anyway." Ranko sneered as she imagined what would happen when Kodachi whistled for the ring to be moved. "That cheating little scamp won't know…" She cackled again, much to the chagrin of those who heard her and saw the juggling act.

"Ranko-Chan!" came a familiar voice. "Such a surprise to see you here!" Ranko turned and blinked at the purple haired man who was sitting at one of the Judge's panels. "I hope you enjoy the show."

"Oh I will," the girl promised as she chucked a knife into the ground where the ring's shadow was, embedding the blade in darkness.

"There's four of them – each one caused by those spot lights up there," the purple haired man noted, pointing up at the overhead lights.

"Yes, thank you," She said as she went to work, stabbing each of the ring's shadows with a dagger. As soon as she secured the last one, music started playing and the dull drone of the crowd became wild with cheers. Ranko walked over to the blue corner and waited. Ranma and Akane walked over to her as they waved at the crowd. "Oi! Akane! Ranma!" She waved as she called out. The other two teens blinked as they made their way to her.

"You're feeling better?" Ranma asked excitedly.

"Not enough to take your place," Ranko said cheerfully. Her twin sagged at that and Ranko pat her on the back. "There, there. Get up there and show that little wretch who's boss," Ranma looked at her for a few seconds before she shrugged and leapt up into the ring, before posing some. Kodachi was already waiting in the ring, with a black rose in her mouth.

"In this corner, Kodachiiiii Kuuuuuno!" the announcer…announced. "And in this corner…" She paused before looking at the redheaded pig-tailed girl. "Excuse me. Your name is?"

"Saotome Ranma," she supplied.

"Furinkan High School's very own Raaaaaanma Saotomeeeee!" There was a large amount of whispering on the part of Furinkan High's audience; The girl below had red hair and looked like Ranko, but her hair style and name was like that of Ranko's male twin.

"They'll never figure it out," Ranma giggled to her sister and fiancée.

"Right," Ranko shrugged, but Akane looked somewhat nervous.

"Champions to the center!" the announcer called. "Now shake hands!" Ranma and Kodachi approached the center of the ring, and once they were done shaking hands, Ranma realized there was something cuffed to her right hand. She looked at the chain that lead to a small black piglet and frowned.

"Ryoga? What are you doing here?" The bandana sporting pig leapt up and bit her on the arm, and she gave it a half lidded glare. "You just live to louse me up, don't you?" She demanded the porcine runt.

There was a loud bell, signifying the beginning of the match.

----

Paipan: Refers to someone who does not have hair in all the right places yet…in other words, someone who hasn't quite started puberty.

¯\(ºo)/¯


	6. Hot Competition!

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Sorry I took so damn long with this update. About three quarters of the way through with this, I was disappointed with what I had and so totally erased almost all of it. I changed it to better suit the intended mood (I keep letting it get too serious) As for the 8k words, I didn't quite hit that target, but I spent weeks toiling in front of a computer and this is what I got. So, sorry It's so late, and sorry it's shorter than it should be, and sorry it's not as humorous as the summary and first few chapters promised it would be. The next chapters are going to be as close to canonical (as far as humor goes) as possible. Any particular errors will be fixed tomorrow 'cause I'm too lazy to fix it right now.

---Chapter 5: Hot Competition!---

"I'll just knock you out of the ring before you get _hurt_!" Ranma-chan called out as she twirled her ribbon in a spiral with the intention of using it to grab Kodachi. The other girl smirked and swung her rope around, blocking the ribbon. Ranma dodged the rod-disguised-as-a-rope a few times before she suddenly noticed that she was bound by the chain connecting her to P-chan. "What?!" She blinked down at the pig in anger as a rod connected with her head. Ranma groaned and dodged a few strikes from a club before she noticed that the club had retractable spikes. 'Gah! That's…That's lethal!' Ranma growled as she ducked away from Kodachi. 'Well if she's going to be cheap…'

"I do this all so that I may date Ranma! Oh, how _inspiring_ the lengths to which I will go!"

"…I'm telling you, there's _no chance_…" Ranma started with a growl as grabbed P-chan with her feet and leapt into the air. "…of me going on a date with _you!_" She landed on Kodachi's face, making sure to connect only with P-chan's body so as to not be disqualified. The other girl groaned as Ranma bounced off of her face and landed on the other side of the ring.

"Who said anything about dating _you_?" Kodachi asked, confused as she recovered from the attack.

"Uh…right…" Ranma blinked. "Well, promise that if you lose, you'll never show your face to Ranma Saotome again!"

"And what precisely are you to Ranma Saotome?" Kodachi inquired as she leaned in for a better observation.

"A-Are you going to promise or not?" Ranma asked nervously, backing away from her in fear of the insane.

"I see!" Kodachi announced suddenly, leaping backwards. "You! You are after his heart as well! You vile wench!"

"_Idiot_! I _am_ Ranma Saotome!" Kodachi called for her hoop and the referee tossed it into the ring.

"You dare to assume his name?! I, Kodachi the black rose, shall punish you!" She reared back and flung the razor hoop at Ranma. Ranma ducked it and blanched at how easily it cut through the turnbuckle behind her.

'What is this girl's problem?!' Ranma thought as she leapt up onto the top rope behind her. She jumped up to dodge another club and swung P-chan around like a chain before snapping the pig at Kodachi. Kodachi jumped to the side and sent the ribbon out towards Ranma, who dodged. The ribbon caught onto the returning razor hoop and she pulled it towards herself, intent on cutting Ranma in half in the process. The redhead barely managed to dodge and some of the hair on the top of her head fell away as a testament to how close it had been. "If you won't understand words, then I'll just have to make you lose!" She declared.

"Ranma! Here!" Akane yelled. She tossed two clubs to Ranma and Ranma jumped into the air, catching them as the razor hoop flew by where Ranma'd been standing, severing the top rope in the center. As Ranma fell down to Kodachi, the other girl's arms came town tin a wide arc.

"Beware the blow of a thousand clubs! At _full force_!" the maniacal girl shouted as she engaged Ranma in what appeared to be a blur of clubs. Ranma snorted in disbelief as she slung the piglet down into the 'blur'. On the sidelines, Ranko was shaking her head in disbelief.

'I never got the point of that technique. It seems more of a hampering than anything.' She thought as the twenty clubs all fell from Kodachi's hands. Kodachi then leapt up onto the post where she snapped a ribbon down and used it to retrieve a bell. She then slung the bell at Ranma, who blocked with P-chan. Ranma jumped to dodge a chair and growled.

"Two can play at this game!" She yelled out, snagging a table. Kodachi grabbed her brother from the seats. One table and one bokken wielding psycho clashed; the table was horizontally cleaved in two by the moronic swordsman, but he was defeated by the top half. The two were then abandoned for other weapons. She narrowed her eyes at another familiar buxom redhead before snapping the ribbon out, grabbing the other girl. Ranko merely blinked as Ranma used her against Kodachi then smirked, summoning a ball of light in her hands.

"Light!" She and Ranma both closed their eyes, and the ribbon loosened from Ranko's form, sending her flying into the ropes. Ranma smirked as the other girl nearly fell from the post, clutching her eyes. She tossed Pchan at her to knock her off, but the girl's instincts were too good and she jumped away. Ranma turned to see Kodachi swinging a kettle in his direction. He gawked as the hot water boiled over both him and P-chan.

There was silence for a few seconds as the steam cleared. Kodachi's eyes widened significantly as the forms of both Ranma and Ryoga slowly became evident. Then, without warning, a stream of cold water flooded the three and Ranma shrank back to the girl form. Kodachi's eyes twitched and she wondered if the strenuous effort she was expending had made her delirious. Matches never went this long; people either forfeit before the match or during it when one of her weapons had hurt them in a most… permanent way.

Ranma looked at the source of cold water and silently thanked her fiancée before turning her gaze back to the pony-tailed girl before her.

"Why are you so determined to steal my Ranma?!"

"Since when is Ranma yours!?"

"The time for talk is past!" Kodachi swung a spiked club at the Saotome girl, who ducked and grabbed the club with her feet. Using the girl's forward momentum, she tossed her outside of the ring. Kodachi smirked as she brought a whistle and blew into it. The ring suddenly shook and Ranma nearly fell off but that was it.

Kodachi landed on her behind on the ground in a most ungraceful way. There was silence before a sudden cheer as everyone realized what had happened.

"I did it!" Ranma cried out in glee. "I won!"

"Heh heh," Ranko smirked from the corner while Akane blinked.

"Why did she blow that whistle at the end?"

"She's a Kuno. Must there be a reason for everything she does?" Ranko asked, waving it off as she walked away to retrieve her knives. Akane blinked, before shrugging, accepting that.

---

"Meh…" Ranko sighed as she stood in the corner as she watched her brother eat with his friends. They were at a Chinese ramen joint that the boys usually went to after school. Akane and two of their friends had invited her to go ice-skating, but she'd declined and insisted that Akane take P-chan with her. There was some commotion from Ranma's table and she perked up as she tried to catch some of the conversation. 'Seriously, bro… it wasn't the smartest thing to do to use your own name if you didn't have any back-story thought out for it.' She watched in amusement as he agitatedly dodged all of his buddies' questions. Finally, the boy got up, annoyed.

"She's not anything to me!" He nearly shouted.

"That's not fair, Ranma! You already have Akane!"

"Akane?" Ranma snorted, crossing his arms. "Who'd want a girl with absolutely ZERO sex-appeal?!"

"Ranma!" Akane shouted as she stomped into the shop, straight for him.

"E-eh?!" Ranma's eyes widened in surprise. "Er, not that I'd know whether or not you…had…" He blinked as the girl started sobbing. "A-Akane?"

"Ranma!" She repeated, "You've got to find P-chan! He's been kidnapped!"

"…" Ranma blinked before giving her a half lidded stare. "Oh."

"I'm serious! I know you and him don't get along so well, but…"

"What's this I hear, Akane?" Ranko asked indignantly as she walked over to the other girl.

"I-I'm sorry, Ranko! I know how much he means to you…"

"Geez, I let the poor thing out of my sight for five minutes and…" Ranko mock growled. 'Bleh.'

"Did the victim have any distinguishing features?" Ranma asked innocently as he pointed at a couple that entered the establishment.

"Stop playing around!" Akane yelled up angrily at her fiancé.

"That _is_ P-chan," Ranko noted as she turned to see what Ranma was pointing at. There was a brunette clutching a small black pig like some kind of porcine life preserver. She stomped over to the other girl and snatched the pig away. "Thank you for bringing him, miss…" She blinked as the other girl snatched it back.

"What are you trying to do to Azusa's widdle Charlotte?" She asked before making cooing noises at the little pig. P-chan for his part made several attempts to get back to Ranko, with a thought resembling 'Better the devil you know'. Ranko narrowed her eyes at the other girl, just as a tall boy behind the other girl simply grabbed the pig and walked over to Akane.

"I believe this is yours…" the bishounen-wannabe handed the pig over to the younger girl.

"Ah…th-thank you…"

"Mikado, and the pleasure is all his," Ranko growled as she grabbed Akane by the arm and pulled her away from the boy.

"Where are you going with Charlotte?!" Azusa cried as she scuttled after the two. "Give her back!"

"Ugh…" Ranko sighed as she turned to face the other girl. "No."

"But-"

"No."

"You-"

"No."

"…" Azusa's eyes watered. "I challenge you!" she yelled, pointing at the other girl dramatically. Ranko sighed as she folded up her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Kolkhoz high, figure skating, next week." Azusa blinked at her in surprise.

"Ranko..?" Akane blinked. "What are you doing?"

"She challenged me, so I chose the place of meeting."

"That's not how it works!" Azusa pouted.

'Uh, yes it is…' "…Did I not choose a situation to your liking, Shiratori?"

"Well… The prize will be Charlotte!" the smaller girl yelled out.

"Whatever," Ranko said with a wave of the hand. "All I need to do is learn how to skate. After that, beating you is easy." She smirked as Azusa's face turned red in anger.

"Ranko…" Akane's eyes lit up. "Did you say Kolkhoz high?"

"Yep."

"Then does that mean she's…"

"Shiratori of the 'Golden Pair'…Yep."

"Why would you make that kind of challenge?!" the other girl asked in surprise.

"Because I can beat her."

"How would you know that?!"

"That's…" She held up a finger as everyone looked at her. "…a secret." Akane face faulted.

"I'll show you! Charlotte's gonna just loooove her new home!" Azusa cried out as she left.

"Sigh…" Mikado said (to which he received stares). Ranko looked up and blinked, realizing he was standing next to her. "My partner has caused you trouble. As way of apology…" He gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him before bending over to kiss her.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY SISTER!" a fist crashed into the side of the other boy's face, sending him sprawling out the door. Ranko just stared ahead, wide-eyed, as her entire face went into a violent twitching fit.

"Ugh…" groaned a voice from outside. Ranma walked out and grabbed the boy by his collar, lifting him up into the air.

"You little punk!" Ranma growled into the taller boy's face. "If I _ever_ see you put a hand on my sister again, I'll break your legs! You got that?!"

"…violent…thug…" the other boy groaned.

"You can make that two on two skating!" Ranma growled as he tossed the other boy away. "If I see your filth before the match, I won't accept responsibility for any injuries you receive," He snorted and flicked his pig-tail behind his head as he walked back into the establishment to be met by cheers.

"ugh…"

-

Later that afternoon, Akane and the Saotome twins were walking along a fence on the way home.

"Thanks, bro," Ranko said from behind Ranma. "I kinda froze up there for a moment. Dunno what would have happened if you hadn't jumped in."

"You'd have broken his jaw, right?" Ranma stated more than asked cheerfully.

"Shattered more like," Akane snorted from her position ahead of the twins.

"Yeah." Ranko nodded. "Anyway, Ranma, what made you decide to join the challenge?"

"Feh, I know that guy's type. He needs to be knocked down a peg or two, he's just begging for it," the other boy snorted.

"Heh, yeah." The girl smiled.

"Anyway, Ranko, what were _you _thinking when you challenged Azusa?"

"Don't worry your little head off, Akane-chan," Ranko said, holding up a finger. "I've got this one in the bag."

"_Really_, now?"

"Of course, of course. I don't go off half-cocked like some people," She said, sneaking a glance at her brother.

"Yes you do. All the time!" Akane said.

"Have a little faith," Ranko said with mock hurt.

"That's what you always say," Akane growled.

"Well…"

"What are you two talking about, anyway?" Ranma asked.

"Nothing," the girls chorused.

---

One day later, Ranma, Ranko and Akane were all at the local rink…

"You two…" Akane sighed and put hand to her head, in a vain attempt to stop the migraine that was forming. "What were you thinking when you challenged two _expert_ level skaters?" She glanced up at the two, who were both currently sprawled on the ground, and hung her head back down in shame. "You can't even stand on the ice."

"Come on Akane," Ranko said. "You've got to give us some credit. We've made wonderful progress!"

"I don't call figuring out which skate goes on which foot _real_ progress, but whatever," the Tendo girl muttered.

"Feh," Ranko said as she used the wall to stand up, and Ranma followed. "Hey Ranma, shouldn't you be training your boy form to skate? I mean, your equilibrium changes with your gender, doesn't it?"

"Well yeah, but I'd rather do the really embarrassing part as a girl," she admitted. "It'd suck if people connected my boy-form to this horrible skating,"

"I wish _I_ could change my identity like that," Ranko muttered. "Then _I'd_ look just like _you_."

"Well…heh heh heh," Ranma gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing his head.

"Come on, let's try it again," Akane sighed as she held out her hands. The two graciously accepted the offer and soon the three were all skating, albeit rather clumsily. "I think you two are getting it now," she said.

"Well of course. I used to be real good at this," Ranko snorted.

"Huh? When?" Akane asked in confusion.

"…A long, long time ago," Ranko sighed. Akane blinked, but accepted it. Ranko said that sometimes, but would never really explain what it meant.

"Excuse me," Piped up a familiar voice. A blur crashed into the girls and Akane stumbled, falling over, while Ranko slid to an abrupt stop.

"Hey! What the heck was that for?!" Ranko asked as she turned to see Azusa standing aside.

"Now now, this isn't a time for quarreling. After all, your friend is…" She pointed away and Ranko blinked as she turned to see Ranma sliding away from momentum alone at an incredible speed.

"GYAAAAAA!" the girl cried out with wide eyes as she blazed a trail through the ice.

"Ranma!" two girls called out in alarm.

"AAAAAAAA— eh?" Ranma blinked as she collided with something soft. She blinked and looked up. "H-huh?"

"You're safe now, miss," said the muffled voice from above. Ranma looked up and had to stifle a giggle. Mikado Sanzenin was looking down at her. The things that almost made her laugh, however, were the huge bandages wrapped around the bottom of his jaw.

"Uh…thanks, mister," her face twitched in restrained amusement. 'How's yer jaw, punk?' "Say, does your jaw hurt?"

"Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary," the boy said in a 'noble' voice.

"Do your girl-chasing later," Azusa called out as she kneed the boy over the head. "We have to practice the assault of a hundred foes."

"The assault of a hundred foes?" Akane blinked in confusion. Ranko slowly skated over to Akane, flinching every time the skates bit into her ankles.

"Damn, this is going to seriously hurt when we're done," she muttered under her breath. "It's combat skating, Akane," She said when she was close enough.

"Fair maidens, it would be best you all to move well enough away from my partner and I," Mikado announced as he deposited Ranma-chan next to Ranko and Akane. "It would not do for any of you to be hurt." He skated away, back to his partner, and it was just then that the three girls realized what had joined them all on the ice rink. Hockey players and other assorted fighters whose skills were compatible with ice-skating quickly closed a circle on the pair, surrounding them.

"Whoa," Ranma blinked. "Isn't that what you two used to do every morning?" She asked, pointing at the group as the "golden pair" proceeded to maul the crowd.

"Yep," Ranko said.

"Heh, this should be easy, then,"

"You don't know the half of it," Ranko smirked. "You two practice on your own, I think I'm getting the hang of this," She called out as she skated away.

"Feh, I'll figure it out soon enough," Ranma said in as suave a voice as her vocal chords could generate.

"Eee! It's a cute piggy!" called out a voice.

"Eh?" Akane blinked as she turned around. P-chan was somehow speeding across the rink towards her. The pig leapt up, only to be smashed between two bodies. "Uh…" She blinked as Ranko and Azusa groaned and fell, on top of P-chan. She let go of Ranma who instantly began wobbling, skated over to the small black animal who was struggling under the two girls. "P-chan! What are you doing here? We left you home…"

"AKANE! I'M GONNA FALL OVER IF YOU DON'T CATCH ME!" came the panicked voice of her fiancé.

"I can teach you to skate," Mikado said as he swooped in to catch her. He held her securely under one of his arms as he leapt into the air and preformed a triple-spin.

"Thanks, but no thanks," said the slightly dis-oriented girl as she recovered from the sudden movement.

"Then at least you can thank me for my earlier rescue," He intoned, assuming the 'position'. After assuming the 'position' he executed 'Sanzenin maneuver #1'.

There was silence.

And then-

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ranma sobbed as she skated across the ice. Ranko blinked in confusion as she stood up; seconds before she hadn't even been able to stand, but was now leaving the rank at a speed most intermediate skaters would be jealous of.

'I guess I'd be crying too if I was kissed by a boy,' Akane thought with a pitying stare. Suddenly she felt something and her eyes widened and she turned her head to the left. What she saw surprised her immensely; Ranko was giving off a visible aura and her eyes were glowing. She was shrouded almost completely in red, and Akane could see water trailing behind her as she rapidly skated towards Mikado.

"You idiot!" She yelled. Mikado blinked as he turned to see her approaching just as her fist collided with his face, sending him into a blurred daze.

"MIKADO!" came another voice. "YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"Ranma! Over here!" Mikado shook his head to clear it as that familiar voice sounded out, and he realized he was being held by the armpits. When he finally had a clear vision, it was of a very angry Saotome Ranma skating towards him at Mach 17. The person holding him up moved to the side just as Ranma got close enough, and before Mikado could fall over the rage-incarnate that was Ranma collided with him.

---

"Did you _really _have to punch him five hundred times?" Akane asked her fiancé at dinner later that night, more than slightly annoyed.

"He deserved it," Ranko huffed.

"He deserved _worse_," Ranma growled as his chopsticks snapped.

"Okay, that's enough of whatever you're all talking about," Nabiki growled. "Every time you bring it up, Ranma breaks another set of chopsticks."

"Eh," Ranko shrugged. "Your sister brought it up."

"It's quite pathetic, really," came a familiar voice. This time, Ranko's chopsticks broke.

"Ryoga, what are you still doing here? You hang around this place way too much," Ranko said as the lost boy stood at the door.

"I would never have let that happen to _me_," He said, flat out ignoring her, causing her even more frustration.

"Shut up!" Ranma said, standing up to face him. "If I hadn't been stuck in skates, that moron would have _never--_"

"_Kissed you_?" Ryoga asked with a smirk.

"Really? Who kissed him?" Nabiki asked as she and Kasumi finally became interested with the conversation.

"Tell them, Ranma. After all, it isn't so often that one is kissed by such a handsome _boy_…" Ranma went slack with remembrance.

"He was kissed by a boy?" Kasumi spoke up with surprise.

"Well that doesn't count, does it?" Nabiki asked.

"Not unless it's his first, but it couldn't have been." Kasumi said with a smile. There was silence for a good moment.

"…Argh!" Ranma finally cried out. "That's it! I'm leaving!" He stomped away from the room. Akane sighed and walked in a different direction.

-

Ranko blinked as she opened the door to the dojo. Less than an entire second later. Ranko shut the door back before turning around, her eyes wide. The door opened just then and a red-faced Akane was standing there.

"It wasn't what you think it was, honest!"

"Heh, right." Ranko smirked as she walked into the dojo, crossing her arms. "When were you two planning on telling me you were taking this fiancé business seriously?" She stopped just before a beet-red Ranma.

"I told you, it—"

"Oh, _can_ it, girl," She said. "You two were practically slobbering all over each other's faces!"

"Don't say it like that!" Akane snapped, scandalized.

"Okay, okay. But still." She looked down at Ranma who, in turn, looked up at her, annoyed. "Do you want me to tell the old geezers about this, or what? I mean, between those two, you two could be married before the night was over," she said as her smirk grew even wider.

"Yeah," Ranma said, annoyed. Akane looked at him in shock as Ranma continued. "And then we could find Ryoga and make it a double affair. Right, Akane?" Akane caught on and smirked at her friend.

"Definitely. Would save money, wouldn't it? I think he's still here. Isn't he?"

"Hmph," Ranko frowned, crossing her arms. "Unlike you two, Ryoga and I aren't at the swapping saliva stage."

"We weren't!" Ranma and Akane proclaimed. They glanced at each other and then looked away.

"And on the contrary, Ryoga _is_ perfect for you. You intimidate everyone else!"

"That's not true," Ranko protested. "All of the boys at school think I'm cute."

"Cute," Ranma interjected. "They only look at you like a slab of meat."

"I know that," She snapped. "But there's no way Ryoga and I would work out."

"Why not? He's a perfect gentleman," Akane said. Ranma nodded and Ranko gawked at the two of them in surprise. "That already puts him leagues ahead of the pervert brigade."

"Gentleman?" she asked, incredulous. She blinked as she realized something. 'That's right – Ryoga never started sleeping in Akane's bed, and he tries to spend as little time as P-chan as possible. He won't sleep near me because I irritate him. That doesn't mean he wouldn't do it if I started treating him better, though.' "Listen, Ryoga's capable of far worse than either of you could imagine. The worst perverts are perverts in secret," she said, holding up a finger.

"That's…that's sort of true, but," Akane started. "If you really believed that, wouldn't you have to be suspicious of every male?" she asked.

"I'm not openly perverted, and I sure as hell ain't like that," Ranma snorted indignantly.

"You're different; you know what it's like to be a girl," Ranko pointed out.

"Tofu isn't perverted,"

"We don't know that," Ranko said in a wary voice.

"That's just paranoia," Akane sighed.

"One who watches his shoulder is one you can not stab in the back," Ranko said, sagely, nodding her head with her eyes closed.

"Huh?" Both teens looked at her incredulously. "Who said that?" Ranma asked.

"I made it up just now," Ranko explained.

"Your sister has always been slightly paranoid," Akane sighed as she looked at the ground with a hand on her head.

"That's wonderful," Ranma groaned.

"I am not paranoid. I am careful. And if the two of you were a little more careful, I never would have discovered your little tryst." Ranko said in annoyance as she started to leave the dojo.

"It was not like that!" the two shouted again in vain as the door shut.

"Man, that girl," Ranma sighed. "Was she always like that?"

"As long as I've known her," Akane echoed his sigh. "Uh, anyway, listen. About earlier…" She looked at him uncertainly.

"Oh yeah," He said, blushing. "It uh, didn't…I mean if you want…"

"No way did that count, pervert," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Pervert? Look who's…" 'That didn't count?' "Wait a minute…huh?"

"Let's talk about that later," Akane said, defensively. Ranma nodded vacantly and Akane breathed an internal sigh of relief. Likely, Ranma would forget all about it. "But really, what do you think of Ryoga?"

"Like I said, he's all right. I'd trust him way more than any other guy with my sister,"

"Then help me get them together," Akane said, determinedly.

"What?"

"Like _I_ said, earlier, she intimidates other guys. They don't want anything serious from her, it's just how they are. And to be honest, I can't see her 'settling down' with some boring salaryman or some such. She needs someone who can keep up with her."

"You're right," Ranma said, rubbing his chin. "I'll give it some thought." He sighed finally.

"That's all I need right now," Akane said in a grateful tone.

-

Ranko sat on her futon in the guest room with a notepad.

"Okay. So the next major group to show up will be the Amazons…" She paused for a moment and bit her lip, tapping a pencil against a note-pad. 'Uh, but who's after that? I know Happosai showed up in like volume nine or something…but as far as that, the only other major things I can remember are Herb and Saffron… Damn, sixteen years can really screw up your memory. If I hadn't obsessed over this for the first three or so years, then I would probably not even remember _any_ of it…jeez, this sucks. Makes me feel old. Then again, I'm like…technically thirty three or something.' She paused as that disturbing thought entered her mind.

"Yeesh, I _am_ old." She sighed and doodled some on the notebook before another name came to her. "Oh yeah! How could I forget Ukyo? She's around…uh, issue… thirteen? Or was that the Hiryu shoten ha…Or Ryoga's Bakusai Tenketsu training…Man, this really sucks…" She sighed as she lay back on the futon.

Meanwhile, just outside the door, Ranma was standing there, in confusion, having stopped when a familiar name was called out. 'Wait a minute…Ukyo, Ukyo… Where have I heard that before…Ukyo…Kuunji? Konshiji?' He turned around, ready to go downstairs and ask his pop just what the name meant. 'Maybe someone from the training trip-' He froze again when he heard Ryoga's name. 'Bakusai Tenketsu?' He blinked. 'Ryoga's got a new technique? And what the heck does she mean by Hiryu Shoten Ha?' He turned around again, ready to walk in and demand she tell him just what kind of techniques he was keeping from her, when she abruptly walked into him.

"Oh, excuse me," Ranko said, as she walked away. Ranma simply watched her go, unable to say anything.

'I'll go ask pops about it,'

-

"Where did you hear that name, boy?" Genma asked as he looked around. The rotund man had been playing a last game of shogi with Soun, and until he heard the word 'Kounji' hadn't even acknowledged the boy.

"Huh? I dunno, it just came to me," he said, equally uncomfortable.

"It's not important," Genma said rather hastily. "Forget about it."

"Not important?" Ranma asked suspiciously. 'It… _feels_ important. The old fool is lying again,_ definitely _someone from the training trip.'

"That's right, not important. Now go on to bed, boy." Ranma bit back a retort- It wasn't the old man's job to tell him when to go to bed anymore, but he had to admit that it was what he'd been planning on before he heard Ranko rambling about something.

---

The rest of the week passed by rather uneventfully. The day of the match finally arrived, and after much practice on Ranma's part and some re-learning on Ranko's part, Ranma was feeling very confident of their odds.

"I'm telling you, Ranma, you didn't need to practice that much. You probably won't ice-skate again after this for years to come,"

"Well, I have a policy that says never give less than your all, and for me my all is the max," he said, puffing his chest out.

"Right, right, whatever. Listen, It'd have been over in seconds regardless of whether or not you could even stand," She said confidently.

"What makes you say that? These two are supposedly the best combat skaters in the area."

"Women's intuition," She smirked, waving a finger. "And besides, we're the best no matter what."

"Right," Ranma smiled lightly at his sister.

-

The twins watched as Mikado and Azusa made their introduction as the crowd roared in approval.

"We'll beat them really easy, just you watch," Ranko snorted, with her arms crossed.

"Well of course. Saotomes don't lose," He agreed.

"Yes. Now come! We must show up their entrance!"

"Agreed!" He said. When neither of them moved, they looked at each other.

"Well? What's the plan? How can we do better than that?"

"What? You're the one who suggested it!"

"Oh yeah." She blinked and scratched her head before doing the palm-in-fist. "Of course!" She held up a palm and a ball of light appeared. Ranma blinked before closing his eyes.

-

"And now, if the Saotome team would make themselves-" There was a bright flash of light and "suddenly" the twins were standing beside both Azusa and Mikado. "-known and there they are!" They were met with mixed reactions; cheers from some part of the crowd, silence from other parts, and of course jeers from the Mikado and Azusa supporters.

"Hello," Ranko waved to Mikado and Azusa. "Just a reminder, we're not a couple," Ranma looked at her in confusion.

"Why would we be a couple?"

"They specialize in anti-couple warfare," she said, shrugging. "So anyway, you two, let's get started, ne?" She grabbed Ranma's arm and led him away from the two.

"So, what's our strategy?" Ranma asked.

"Simple. We improvise. That's what our school does, right?"

"That's part of it," Ranma agreed. The two split up and awaited their opponents. After a few moments of bickering, the 'Golden Pair' managed to split themselves up as well, and they each went after their respective opponents; Ranma and Mikado, Ranko and Azusa.

-

Ranko skated backwards as Azusa approached her.

'She seems hesitant. It's probably been a while since they fought separately like this.' Ranko smirked as the other girl finally increased her speed and flew at her. When Azusa leapt at her, Ranko ducked down and turned to the right suddenly. She watched the other girl pass through the air behind her and started to follow her. The other girl landed smoothly, but was now going too fast in the opposite direction. Ranko smirked and jumped at her from behind. "Hiyaah!" The smaller girl managed to duck under the jump-kick, and just as Ranko passed over, she kicked up. Ranko grinned as she grabbed onto the other girl's leg and used her own momentum to pull the girl to the ground.

Both girls fell to the ground in a heap. Ranko stood up immediately and held up her hands. "Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright, gather in my hand and become my strength! Fireball!" There was an orange glow surrounding her as she summoned a small orb of flame into her hands. She reeled back and threw it like a fast pitch; Azusa, still disoriented, didn't see the sphere of flame closing on her. There was an explosion of heat. Both male fighters turned their heads only to see Azusa flying at them, slightly darkened and dazed. She crashed into the two of them, and they all flew into a wall.

"Huh…" Ranko looked on in confusion as something occurred to her. 'That's right- Azusa and Mikado didn't really seem to have much other than the 'couple crippler' or whatever. But that can't be all they have… I mean, no one becomes the 'best' at something from having just one skill…' She looked at where her fireball had impacted the rink. There was now a jagged hole with melted edges in the rink. The water below the ice was boiling, and the cracks in the hole were spreading.

'Uh oh. That doesn't look good… If the water beneath the ice is boiling, then the entire surface of the rink will be reduced to just water soon!' She gauged the thickness of the ice and estimated they had five minutes before the match was forcibly ended. "I need to plan these things ahead," she grumbled to herself as she skated and hopped over the hole-

Just as an angry Ranma and Mikado tossed Azusa at her. The two girls collided in mid air and fell into the hot water.

"Aackack Atchiiii!!" "Hot! Hot! HOT!"

"Now, where were we?" Mikado asked as he turned to his opponent. Ranma smirked and cracked his knuckles as he lunged at the other teen.

The two girls climbed out of the water, and stood up. They were both red from over heating, soaked, and dripping. As soon as Azusa saw Ranko, she let loose a (cute)war cry and leaped into a jump kick. Ranko crouched and leapt up into a spinning uppercut as the girl passed over head. 'We've been doing that a lot,' she thought to herself. When she landed, the piece of ice she landed on broke off and started floating away, quickly melting. Ranko's eyes widened and she jumped, barely landing on another part. Azusa was already up and skating towards her with a fierce look in her eyes.

Ranko barely had the time to notice as the other girl (cutely) head butt her in the side, sending her flying into a wall. Ranko groaned as she opened her eyes to see a (cute) furious Shiratori speeding towards her. Ranko held up a hand and a bright light appeared. Azusa screamed as the bright light burned her retinas, and she clutched her eyes as her momentum made her trip onto the ice and slide towards Ranko. Ranko smirked and held up a finger as the girl approached, headfirst.

"It's time to end this," She said as the girl slid into her. She tapped her head and said the word to end the match. "Sleep!" The girl before her went slack and Ranko sighed in relief, standing up. She looked at her brother who was still fighting with Sanzenin. "I need to work on that spell. Having to touch them isn't very convenient…"

-

"Now, where were we?" Ranma cracked his knuckles and leapt at Mikado with a fist cocked back.

"You were about to lose," The pig-tailed wonder said rather calmly as Mikado raised an eye at the other boy's retort and smirked, leaning back.

"Really, Saotome, you don't stand a chance!" He sneered as he weaved around the other boy's attacks, then all of a sudden tripped. As he fell backwards, his feet flew up, luckily kicking Ranma in the solar plexus. Ranma flew over head, clutching his chest in pain in surprise at the force in which Mikado had kicked him, and where. Mikado, not having seen that he'd even hit Ranma, looked at his opponent in confusion as the other boy flew into a wall. He stood up and looked down at the crack in which he'd tripped over, eyes widening. "What in the world…"

"That was a lucky shot," Ranma gasped out as he stood up, not having any idea just how right he was.

"Just_ what_ are you talking about?" Mikado asked.

"You know what I mean, asshole," the pig-tailed martial artist growled as he slowly stood up. Suddenly, the ice between him and Mikado shifted, breaking apart. "Huh?!"

"That's odd," Mikado said as he saw the water over the edge of the ice. "The water beneath the pool; it's boiling hot." The boy looked on in confusion.

"That makes it all the more interesting, eh?" Ranma smirked as he started leaned back and started skating to the side. The other boy smirked and followed him. They both headed towards the largest chunk of ice, keeping sure to jump over cracks and gaps in the ice. Once they were both there they both circled each other at incredible speed. Ranma had to admit- the skates were making him move faster than he could run; but handling was a nightmare and stopping nearly impossible.

Then again, Ranma did the impossible on a daily basis; he wasn't about to let something like ice skates stop him. The two continued to circle each other for a good twenty seconds before Ranma finally had enough and leapt at his opponent with a roundhouse kick. Mikado caught his leg and leapt into the air, spinning three times before letting him go, flying into the wall. Ranma successfully flipped in the air and landed up right, but his momentum carried him backwards into the only wall their particular chunk of ice was still connected to.

He groaned and but tried to keep his eyes open. He spotted Mikado coming at him from an angle and he had leapt forward to dodge the somersault kicks. Ranma watched as his opponent changed directions and turned around to come back towards him just as there was an intense flash of light that blinded both of them and Ranma yelped as an arm reflexively shot up to cover his eyes. He glanced over at his sister and saw the girl standing up over an apparently unconscious Azusa Shiratori. "She's done already? That's not good," Ranma said. "Makes me look bad- Whoa!" He fell backwards into some water and Mikado chuckled at the boy's clumsiness.

"How appropriate. Now it is only myself and the paragon of beau…" He felt a chill go down his spine and reflexively jumped forward just as Ranma crashed up from under him with his head, breaking the ice. He turned around and looked on in confusion, then jumped to the side with wide eyes as Ranma landed on the ice – with his head, once again. "…Incredible." He frowned as the other both chuckled, standing up. "Such determination…I would be insulting you if I didn't take you seriously,"

"So you begin to see," Ranma chuckled. Mikado raised his limbs in a funky way and Ranma narrowed his eyes.

"I would not normally use this on a beginner," Mikado said as Ranma started for him. "You should feel honored!" He began to spin and became a swirling tornado of death just as Ranma collided with him. Instead of colliding, however, he got caught up in Mikado's Dance of Death.

-

Ranko stood on one of the last chunks of ice. It was a amazing – the water, while not boiling, had managed to stay hot enough to continue melting the rink. The largest chunk of ice now had Ranma and Mikado on it, and was also rapidly shrinking. She turned as her danger sense flared and saw Ranma flying towards her. She held up her hands and caught the boy, only to realize that it had been the wrong move as he slammed into her, sending them both flying into a wall. She groaned as they hit the wall, but hung there with one of her arms to keep from falling into the water. Ranma blinked as he realized his sister was holding him up.

"Hey," he said casually.

"Does this mean we win?" She asked. Azusa had still yet to get up, for she was still (Cutely) asleep. Mikado was standing stock-still, apparently unconscious.

"I guess so." He shrugged.

"Okay," She said, dropping him into the water.

"HEY-"

"Oh relax, at least it's not cold," She said as she hung from the wall.

"And the match goes to the Saotome team! The pig is theirs!" A sudden cheer erupted as the announcer finished his statement and both twins smirked at each other.

-

"That was a little intense," Akane remarked as her friend changed clothes. "Just what did you do? I mean, how did you get the ice to melt?"

"Uh, Magic, remember?"

"Magic?" Recognition flashed in Akane's eyes. "Oh yeah!" She turned to her friend. "Say, why won't you teach me any magic?"

"Hm? Oh well, you see…Uh, it's not my place to teach anyone outside of the family…" she said. "May teacher gave me permission to train Ranma, but you would have to ask him to learn magic."

"Really? Does it require some kind of oath or something?"

"Yeah. You gotta swear to cause as much havoc as possible, leaving all levels of despair in your wake."

"I already do some of that," Akane said non-chalantly, waving a hand.

"Hmm,"

-

Ranko, Akane, Ranma and Ryoga were on their way out of the school.

"Say, Ryoga, when did you get here?" Akane asked.

"Since the very beginning," Ryoga seethed, glaring at Ranma. Ranma merely whistled innocently.

"Hey," Ranko said, stopping. "Where did P-chan go? I saw him at the judges table, but never actually got him back!"

"Hmm, you're right," Ryoga said. "Oh well, I'm sure he's safe. That little guy is tough."

"What would you know?" Ranko asked her unwilling fiancé snidely.

"Indeed, what would I know?" Ryoga seethed, once again looking at Ranma, who only increased in cheeriness with the whistling.

Suddenly, all of the teens stopped. Ranma felt a damn familiar chill go down his spine and looked to one of the walls. It suddenly bulged towards them and Ranma's eyes opened to saucers.

"It couldn't be!" He nearly shrieked, taking a few steps away from the wall. The wall suddenly caved in and a purple haired girl stood there as the dust cleared. Two of the teens looked at her in confusion, one merely looked at her as if they'd been expecting it, and one of them cringed in abject horror.

"Ranma!" Shampoo declared as her eyes fell on Ranko. "You I KILL!" She raised a very _lethal_ looking steel sword and flew at the other girl.

"W-whuh?" Ranko mouthed in confusion, fear and surprise keeping her from making actual sound.

----

¯\(ºo)/¯


	7. The unexpected split!

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Heh, yeah… This took a while, I know. Don't worry, I sorta made up for it by making it longer than usual for this story.

---Chapter 6: The unexpected split!---

"Ranma!" the girl raised her sword into the air, glaring at Ranko. "KILL!" She flew at the other girl in a rage.

"W-whuh?" Ranko mouthed in confusion. Just before Shampoo could cleave her in half, however, Ryoga appeared in front of her and caught the blade between his palms, surprising everyone present, including himself.

"Feh," Ryoga said, looking back at Ranko with a smirk. "What are you trying to do? Do you have a death wish?" Ranko scowled at him.

"No, but I do have this," She said, holding up a glowing hand in Ryoga's face. He gasped and shut his eyes, just as Ranko did the same. "Lighting!" There was a great flash, bright enough to hurt whoever didn't shut their eyes. Ryoga merely opened his eyes when it was done and looked around to see that Ranko was nowhere in sight.

"What a coward," Ryoga thought as he snorted and looked at the purple haired girl. He let go of the sword and she harmlessly dropped to the ground, looking around in a frenzied panic.

"Where Ranma!?"

"Uh, Ranma's right here," Akane said, gesturing towards her fiancé, who stood behind her, quivering with fear.

"Don't tell her that!" He whispered angrily, trying to make himself seem smaller and more unnoticeable.

"Lies!" the purple haired girl glared at Akane before turning the glare to Ryoga. "You help Ranma! Die!" She jumped at him with the sword raised again.

"Heh. Fine then!" Ryoga said with a smirk as he took a defensive stance.

"Ryoga!" Ranma suddenly yelled in a desperate voice. "Trust me, you do _not_ want to fight that girl!" Ryoga looked at Ranma contemptuously.

"I can take care of myself," The lost boy sneered as he dodged the initial sword strike. Ranma shook his head as the two began fighting.

"This is bad! If Ryoga beats her…"

"What? What happens if Ryoga beats her?" Akane asked her fiancé, who was still hiding behind her.

"Well you see, this girl is from China… It's a long story, I'll tell you later. Right now we have to save Ryoga!"

"What are you talking about?" Akane asked with a frown as she looked over the two combatants. "He's handling himself just fine." As she said that, Ryoga redirected a thrust and landed a decisive blow across the purple haired girl's face.

"You don't understand!" He said exasperatedly. "If Ryoga beats her, then she has to kill him! Some weird tribal law! She's been after me and the old man since before we left China!"

"What?!" Akane asked angrily. "How many of these kinds of people do you have after you?"

"They've got quite the collection of loonies after them," Ranko's voice came from beside them. They turned to look at the girl, who was wearing a trench coat, hat, and sunglasses. "You guys always need me around to figure stuff out for you, don't you?"

"Ranko?" Akane seemed to remember something. "Why did she attack you and not Ranma?"

"She probably doesn't know about the girl curse. As for now, why don't we just leave? Ryoga can handle himself."

"Did you not hear me?!" Ranma thundered angrily. "She'll chase him to the ends of the Earth!"

"All the more reason for us to let them be," Ranko insisted.

"Ranko! How… how can you say that? He just saved your life!" Akane demanded in a scandalized tone.

"He owed me," Ranko said. "Still does."

"What? How?" Ranma asked incredulously.

'I saved him a lot of grief by keeping him away from Akane for one.' "It's personal. But we really should go."

"Ranko… I can't believe you," Akane said, disgusted. "You two can cower over here. I'm going to go stop them!"

"What?! No!" Both twins shouted out simultaneously as Akane ran out to stop the fight.

"Ryoga-kun! Stop fighting!" Akane yelled. Ryoga looked at her dubiously as he threw a stunned purple haired Amazon to the ground over his shoulder. "If you win, she'll have to chase you forever and kill you!" Ryoga blinked at that and looked down at the now unconscious amazon.

"Huh?" the bandana clad boy asked intelligently as he scratched his head.

"You fool!" Ranko yelled out as she ran over to her fiancé and grabbed him. "Raywing!" The trench coat, hat, and sunglasses fell away as they blasted off into the sky. Ryoga's eyes bulged as he was lifted off the ground, and he clung to the girl's leg as they got further and further away.

"What are you doing!?"

"We're escaping!" Ranko explained. "I can't have her chasing you like that! It would change everything!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryoga asked with a growl. "You don't need to fear for my life!"

"I'm not fearing for your life," Ranko said angrily. "I'm fearing for mine!" Ryoga blinked at that.

"Huh?" He said again, confusion evident in his voice.

"You'll see later," She said as she floated in the air. "For now…" She started shaking her leg frantically. "Get the hell off!"

"No way! All the way up here!? I can't fly!" He shouted at her up at her with an incredulous look.

"You think I care? You're hard as rocks! Fall off already!" She yelled back.

"You're crazy!" He snapped, tightening his grip on her leg. "Just take me to the ground already!"

"Fine, dammit!" She yelled, speeding off in another direction. Ryoga blinked as he realized they were flying away from Nerima.

"Where the hell are you taking me?!"

"Far away from the dojo," She growled as she spotted a swimming pool. "This should keep you busy for a few weeks…" She smirked as she flew into the water with a splash. As soon as they were underwater, however, she noticed that nothing had happened to the boy on her leg.

"What's going on?" Ryoga demanded as he looked around at the water in confusion. They were in an air bubble.

"I forgot, Raywing lets people go underwater," she said. "Oh well, I'll just have to dispel it!"

"No, wait! I'll leave you alone! Just don't let me get wet, please!" Ranko blinked at that.

'Ryoga _begging_? Oh man, this is too awesome!' She smirked evilly at him from her position.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because…" He trailed off, thinking wildly. Ranko suddenly felt a pang of pity for him and sighed.

"Fine. Whatever." She slowly levitated out of the water and left him on the ground beside the pool. "Listen, Ryoga. You shouldn't come back to the dojo for a while. That girl is from a village where they have to kill outsiders who defeat them in combat. It's a life-long thing too. Wait for her to leave before she can learn anything else about you."

"You're serious…" Ryoga said with a frown. "But I don't have my pack."

"I know you've lived without it before. You can do it again. I'll keep your stuff safe."

"Really…" He gave her a half-lidded stare.

"Sure! No worries! After all, what are friends for?" She said with a devious grin. 'He'll never see it again, heh heh heh…'

"We're not friends." Ryoga reminded her with a sour frown. "We're engaged."

"Relax," she said, waving him off. "I'll figure out a way around that. We'll be back to our single status in no time, just watch!"

"Uh huh, sure…" he said, giving her a doubtful look.

"What, do you doubt me or something?" She asked with a glare.

"Sure I do. You're not very impressive." He plastered as indifferent a look on his face as he could manage. Her glare intensified and she growled before kicking him into the pool and storming away. A small black piglet surfaced the water after a few minutes.

'Where did she go?' It thought angrily. Upon realizing the girl was nowhere nearby, it gave a very un-pig like sigh. 'At least she didn't see me…' It looked around again, this time trying to figure out where it was. 'Where the hell did she leave me, anyway?!'

---

Akane followed her fiancé to the Tendo Dojo along the fence, watching the back of his head as he wove his tale of sorrow.

"…and then she kissed me," The boy said. Akane blinked at that and glared at her fiancé.

"I thought you said you were a girl at that time?" She asked.

"Well yes, I was. That's why she mistook Ranko for me," Ranma explained. "If someone beats her, then she has to give them the kiss of death and then chase them around the world to kill them."

"Well, you can't just expect to let her continue thinking that Ranko is you, can you?" Akane asked. Ranma was silent for a few minutes, obviously thinking about it.

"Well, as long as she doesn't know about the girl curse…" he said thoughtfully. Akane gawked at him.

"Your own sister? You'd leave her to die for something you did?!"

"I guess not," Ranma said, defeated. "I guess I'll have to show that psycho the next time she shows up."

"Of course you will! I can't believe you were even considering it!" Akane said, angrily.

"Hey, hey! I wouldn't have let it gone on for too long. I'd have figured out a way to get rid of her while she was chasin' after someone else." Ranma said defensively. "And if she realizes that Ranko is my sister, she'll be in danger anyway. That crazy chick would probably do anything to kill me, even if it means taking a hostage."

"Ranko can handle herself," Akane said, upset at his lack of faith.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Ranma said, turning his head to look at her. "Shampoo kidnaps Ranko, Ranko beats her up to escape, and then Shampoo's after her too!"

"Ranko would be able to think of a way to escape without fighting," Akane said confidently. "She's good with strategy like that."

"Well, if you say so," Ranma sighed, turning back around. Akane ran forward and elbowed him in the back.

"Of course I say so! Quit doubting your sister like that!" Ranma shouted in surprise and looked at her.

"What the heck was that for, you stupid tomboy-pervert?" The two jumped down from the fence and turned on the street.

"Don't call me that!" Akane growled. "And you keep underestimating Ranko!"

"It's not that," Ranma said, and Akane blinked at how serious he was. "You're underestimating Shampoo. She's not just another martial-artist; she's out to _kill_. And she's come close a few times!" They both stopped on the sidewalk.

"Well, whose fault is that?"

"It's pops' fault of course," Ranma nodded sagely as he crossed his arms. "Everything is."

"You said you were eating too, didn't you?"

"Well… I guess."

"Then shouldn't you be taking responsibility as well?"

"Uh, but I already won the tournament," Ranma said, scratching his head. "It was technically _my _food! And we didn't even get to finish! What more do you want me to do?" Akane shook her head.

"Forget it, you stupid pervert."

"I'm not the pervert here,"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too-"

"Would you both just shut it with that pervert crap?" Ranko's voice said from above. They both looked up and saw Ranko floating above them. She landed next to them.

"When are you going to teach me that?" Ranma demanded.

"And when are you going to introduce me to your teacher?"

"In time, in time," Ranko promised. "For now, let's go inside." She said. Ranma and Akane both took that time to notice that they were standing in front of the dojo. The two merely nodded and followed her into the dojo. Once they made it inside the house, however, they all noticed something strange.

Shampoo, Genma-panda and Soun were all kneeling on cushions around a small table, while Kasumi served them tea. It was almost a typical scene of most traditional Japanese fam--

"Shampoo!?" Ranma yelled out incredulously. "The hell is she doin here?!" Shampoo's head turned sharply at the shout and she blinked as she looked at Ranma. Ranma's eyes widened and he looked down to Ranko… only to see that she wasn't there.

"Oh?" Shampoo glared at Ranma and Akane. "Wimpy man and lying girl. Where Ranma?"

"Hey, I ain't no wimp!" Ranma said angrily. The purple haired teen snorted.

"Is weak male."

"W-what?!" Ranma growled. "I'll show you 'weak male '!"

"Don't let her goad you, Ranma!" Akane said as she attempted to restrain him. Shampoo noticed her and frowned.

"Ugly lying girl is stupid for keeping mans from getting what deserve," She muttered. Ranma and Akane suddenly switched positions, with Ranma holding his fiancé back.

You remember what happens if you beat her, don't you!? Genma-panda signed from his position at the table.

"Eheh…" Ranma chuckled and rubbed his head.

"Anyway," Akane said as she calmed down as well. "Don't you have something to show her, Ranma? Something to do with water?"

"What?" Ranma asked as he gave her a 'you must be crazy' look. "No way!"

"But Ranko—"

"Hey hey, I never said I'd do it right away," Ranma said. "There's got to be some way to get her to leave before I show her, right?" He said angrily.

"You really are a coward, aren't you?" Akane growled as she ran into the kitchen. "Fine, I'll show her myself!" Ranma's eyes widened as she came back out with a cup of water.

"Hey hey, watch it!" Ranma said as he jumped out of the way of the water she slung at him. "Fine, fine! Let's take this outside, though…" Ranma said. Akane glared at him as he turned to Shampoo, who was watching with disinterest. "Hey, Shampoo! I know where Ranma is!" He gestured outside. "Follow me if you wanna find her!" Shampoo nodded and stood up, following Ranma outside as he left through the dojo. Akane sighed at that.

"Finally…" There was a sudden shriek and Akane blinked. Before anyone could move, Ranko ran into the room with Shampoo wielding two bonbori hot on her tail. The red head stopped at the table and turned around, looking for a way to escape. Shampoo reared back with one of her maces and swung forward just as Ranko gracefully back flipped over the table, causing Shampoo to miss, and shatter the table with her weapon.

"Ranma, you bastard!" Ranko yelled out angrily as Shampoo followed her over the broken remains of the table and she ran around the long way.

"What's going on here?" Akane asked irately as everyone followed the two out of the room and into the dojo. When she got into the Dojo, she saw Ranma standing off to the side looking sheepish while Ranko and Shampoo had another standoff. Shampoo slammed her weapon down on the ground where Ranko had been standing and growled before continuing to chase her out of the dojo. Akane looked at Ranma angrily. "What did you do!?"

"Err, well, you see, I took Shampoo in here so that when the fight broke out after she saw my cursed form, there wouldn't be any real damage to the house. But Ranko was hiding in here, and before I could show her anything, she started chasing her…" He laughed nervously.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go save your sister already idiot!"

"Sheesh, alright already, don't get your panties in a bunch…" He grumbled as he walked out of the dojo after the combatants. Akane glared as everyone followed.

When Ranma got outside, Shampoo and Ranko were in the street, with Ranko dodging Shampoo's strikes as Shampoo savagely assaulted her.

"Boy, how can you stand there while your sister is attacked by that animal? Go save her!" Ranma glared up at Genma, briefly wondering when he'd gotten the time to change back. There was a loud pained cry and he snapped his head over to see Shampoo standing over his sister as the smaller girl clutched an arm. Shampoo had a victorious smirk on her face as the girl before her sat on the pavement, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out.

"Hey SHAMPOO!" the girl blinked as she stopped her fight and looked up to see Ranma hurtling towards her with a foot extended. Her eyes widened just in time for his foot to connect with her face, knocking her down. He landed and took an offensive stance, standing over Ranko protectively.

"Normally, I'd be pissed off at you for that, but this was never my battle in the first place," Ranko growled as she held her arm. It was definitely broken, Ranma noted with a grimace. Shampoo stood up with a sinister look on her face as Ranko ran towards the rest of her group.

"You is idiot attacking Shampoo," the purple haired girl said darkly. "Shampoo KILL!" She swung her mace overhead at Ranma fiercely, and when he dodged, the weapon impacted the ground leaving a huge crater. Ranma resolved not to let her hit him lest he lose a few limbs or his life, and started dodging follow up attacks. He weaved around several swings and jumped over a thrust. While in the air, he struck out with lightning quickness and punched her in the face ten times in the blink of an eye. There was a visible effect and the girl backed away.

"Normally I don't seriously fight girls, but you've been trying to kill me long enough, and you hurt my sister." Ranma said with a resolute growl. "You're not getting away with that." Shampoo regarded him in a new light, now that she'd seen his true abilities. The two warily circled each other as the others watched from the background.

"You're hurt," Akane said as she noticed Ranko.

"That's right, Akane. What else have you noticed today? The sky is oddly blue, don't you think?" the other girl growled. Akane rolled her eyes at that. "My arm is broken. If I wasn't trying to dodge, she might have pulverized it."

"What?!" Akane asked, incredulously. Now that she looked at it, it did look that way. "You have to go to a doctor!"

"Tofu should be good enough," Ranko said dismissively. "I wanna see how this turns out though. I can take a little pain."

"You're being hard headed," Akane said with a frown.

"She's right. We should get away from her—err, here, and get you somewhere safe." Genma said as Akane grabbed her friend by the arm she was sure wasn't broken.

"Come on!"

"Fine, fine," Ranko sighed as she was dragged away by her friend. Both Kasumi and Soun followed the two as they left.

Meanwhile, Ranma and Shampoo were still locked in mortal combat. Ranma ducked under a horizontal swing from one mace and feinted to the left before kicking her in the midriff, and then following up with a few more to vital areas on her chest. Each blow was speedy, precise, and packed with power, and to anyone watching that hadn't been as well trained as the two combatants, his leg would have appeared to blur. The force of his attack knocked Shampoo off of her feet and Ranma warily watched her unmoving form and then relaxed when he saw that she would not be getting up.

"Ranma?" Came a familiar voice from the side. Ranma blinked in surprise and looked up in time to see Ryoga standing on the street corner. "There you are!" Ryoga growled and ran over to Ranma, not noticing the unconscious girl as he stepped on her. "What are you doing here, this far away from Nerima? You still hiding behind your sister?"

"No way! I just beat Shampoo right now you idiot!" Ranma said, pointing at the purple haired girl. Ryoga blinked and looked down at Shampoo's limp form and blinked. "We're right in front of the Tendo Dojo!" Ryoga looked in the direction Ranma was pointing and blinked.

"Oh." He turned to look back at the unconscious girl. "So she knows?"

"Err, no," Ranma said. "I just took her on while in the male form. But what the heck are you doing here? Didn't you beat her too, earlier?" Ryoga looked surprised.

"Oh yeah," He said, looking up at the pig-tailed menace. He was supposed to be running away from Nerima, yet had ended up right where he did not want to be. "But you know, I'm not afraid of her. She's not that great. She can chase me for as long as she wants."

"That's right," Ranma said suddenly in realization. "She'd probably never find you anyway." Ryoga growled at that but didn't say anything.

"Where's everyone else? I'd have thought they would be watching something like this." The lost boy looked around in confusion, taking note of the various craters and what not.

"They all ran away. Well, Ranko was attacked and had her arm broken, but Pops used it as an excuse to run away. Akane, Kasumi and Mister Tendo are with them out of concern. I think."

"Oh." There was a groan beneath them and they looked down to see the purple haired girl slowly standing up. Both nodded to each other and took up offensive stances. When Shampoo finally stood up, however, she did not attack. She stared at both Ryoga and Ranma with a troubled look, before muttering something in Chinese.

"Eh? Isn't she going to attack?" Ryoga asked.

"I dunno man, she looks confused." Suddenly, the girl took a few haphazard steps towards them, and they tightened their stances, watching to make sure she didn't do anything. The girl looked up into both of their faces as sweat poured down her face. "Uh… Shampoo? You okay?"

"No," the girl said. " I am confused. If I'm defeated by an outsider male, I'm supposed to marry him, but both of you… " She shook her head and the two stared at her with uncomprehending looks on their faces as she spoke to herself in her native language. "Big problem come up." She turned around picked up both of her maces before walking away, leaving both boys standing there confused.

"Wait a minute," Ranma asked. "Does this mean you aren't after Ranma any more?" The purple haired girl didn't respond at all however, as she left them behind. "Well that was weird," He said as he relaxed. "Listen, I'm gonna check up on Ranko. Later," He said, leaping away.

"Wait!" Ryoga called out from behind him. Ranma turned in midair and landed backwards on the roof of his target. "Let me go with you," Ryoga said as he leapt up to join the boy.

---

Ranko sat down in the guest room on her futon with her arm in a sling as she perused a large, positively ancient looking tome with the help of a small light spell. Both Genma and Ranma were behind her, on their own futons. Genma was already snoring up a storm, but Ranma was distracted by the small but by no means dim orb of light that hung over the book so that she could read. That, topped off with the fact that it was raining fairly hard, meant that Ranma was not able to sleep easily enough at all.

"Ranko," The pig tailed teen said in a gruff, tired voice. "Can't you turn that light down?" He turned his head to look up at the red-haired girl and waited for a response. She merely glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, and didn't respond. "What the heck are you looking in that old book for anyway?"

"White magic," She responded simply.

"White magic?" Ranma asked in confusion. Ranko merely ignored the questioning tone in his voice and continued reading. The pig-tailed teen frowned at that and sighed, closing his eyes to try and sleep again.

"There is no room for error with this. I do not want to have to cut off a mal-formed arm and re-grow an entirely new one. A bit messier, and quite a bit more draining as well." Ranma's eyes opened as the descriptive words began to paint a picture that he did not want to see in his mind.

"You can do that kind of stuff?" He asked seriously. "Re-growing limbs, I mean?" Ranko chuckled to herself and closed her eyes.

"Naw, not really. All the more reason for me not to mess this one up." She turned back to the book and continued reading. 'You'd have to be a master at black, white, and spiritual magicks to do something like that, and that kind of dangerous thing isn't in this one book…'

'School is gonna be hell tomorrow. Two fights and _this_… Good thing there was no school today, though…' Ranma groaned as he settled for putting his head under his pillow.

---

Monday morning, Akane and two immensely tired Saotome twins walked along a fence towards Furinkan High School. Ranko's situation had drastically improved in that she was no longer wearing the sling, and didn't seem to be any worse off for it. In fact, she made sure to carry her school bag with the arm that had been injured the previous day.

"Yup, it works," The girl said cheerfully. Akane was staring at her, amazed.

"Why have you been keeping that sort of thing to yourself anyway?" She asked with a frown.

"Sworn to secrecy," the girl lied. It came as naturally to her as breathing. "Remember, I've told you before that you have to ask my teacher to show you that stuff."

"Who was your instructor, again?" Ranma asked.

"Metallium-sensei," The girl shrugged. Akane and Ranma boggled at that.

"You mean the math teacher?" Akane asked, making certain she'd heard right.

"Yep. He taught me most of what I know," the girl told them with a nod. With a muttered incantation, she lifted off of the fence and rose a foot into the air, spinning around, before hugging herself. "Ah, this is what you call true freedom! Those who are bound by gravity will never know it but for a split second!" the girl said as she floated along just in front of the other two. Ranma frowned at that and Akane rolled her eyes.

"We'll see him today, won't we, Ranma?"

"Huh? Well I guess. I mean Ranko's been teaching me stuff already…"

"Oh yeah…" Akane frowned. "Well fine then, _I'll_ see him by myself!" She huffed and jumped off of the fence as they approached the school, and started a faster pace than the other two.

"She's so determined," Ranko sighed once they were suitably behind. "She won't be able to learn it unless she cools down a little. Xellos purposely angers his students during the teaching process and doesn't stop until you realize what he's doing and don't let it bother you."

"Huh? Why would he do that?"

"Well, while it would have the benefits of teaching you to remain cool headed in battle, he… gets a kick out of it," She said, not bothering to explain the nature of their teacher to him. It would have probably disturbed the boy on several levels anyway.

"Hmph, he'll get more than a kick outta Akane if he tries to pull that with her," The boy said worriedly.

"I would worry more about Akane. I'm not sure if she'll be able to handle some of his taunts," the girl said. "He can be very cruel, worse than any school yard bully by far."

"We'll see, won't we?" Ranma asked. "You sure I don't have to see him?"

"I explained your case to him," The girl said truthfully. "He approved almost instantly."

"Heh," the teen smirked, although he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. "So when are you going to teach me how to fly, anyway?"

"Today, if you're good," the girl said as she looked down and stuck her tongue out at him. "Now come on, we're gonna be late if we don't get a move on!"

-

Ranko sat with the other girls in her P.E. class as the teacher blew on a whistle. Akane had just finished on a balancing beam and joined her as well as the other girls as they watched the next student start the exercise. Akane was smiling and talking with the other girls while the redhead looked around the room, curiously. All day, it had felt like she'd forgotten something that felt like it should have happened by now.

"Hey Ranko, isn't that your brother over there standing at the window?" one of the other girls pointed out. Ranko blinked and looked up, and sure enough, Ranma was standing at a window, looking outside. He suddenly hopped up onto the windowsill and looked down.

"Yeah, that's Ranma," the redhead nodded. The boys were having a separate class in the same gym, so they ended up being in the gym at the same period.

"What's he doing?" Akane asked, curious.

"We're done for the day, aren't we?" Ranko asked. "It's only a little while before class is over. Let's go see, I'm sure Izura-sensei won't mind." Akane nodded at this and the other girls watched in curiosity as they both stood up and walked towards the window. Only the boy's feet were visible at that point, as if he was hanging outside the window by them alone. As they neared, the boy pulled himself back up and snorted loudly. He seemed to be watching something just outside the room, and as soon as the two girls got behind him, he spoke.

"Humph, get a load of these guys! What's so hot about that macho perv--" The boy was interrupted as the girl in question punched him in the back, knocking him out of the window. As he fell the short distance to the ground, their view of what was outside was cleared and the two girls blinked at the three boys kneeling around one with a camera. Ranko immediately recognized the one with the camera.

"Hey, it's Gosunkugi." She said as she blinked. "Is it already that time?" As she watched, the boy quickly and calmly pulled one of the hairs from Ranma's head with a very precise movement and she blinked again. "The hell?" Ranma winced and immediately stood up.

"What was that for?!" He demanded of the other boy as he stood up. The other boy merely glanced at him, and then the two girls in the window before standing and putting a digital camera in his pocket.

"It's none of your business, Saotome," he said calmly as he walked away. "Your brain probably couldn't handle the explanation anyway. It's not a muscle, as much as you would like to believe."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Ranma seemed confused at that point.

"My point exactly," the other boy said as he got further away. When he was at the edge of the building, he turned the corner and vanished around it.

"Man, I hope he remembers to give us some of the pictures," the three students who had huddled around Gosunkugi lumbered off their own separate way.

"…Why do I get the feeling I was just insulted?" Ranma asked as he turned to face the two girls still standing in the window.

"You were," Ranko shrugged. "But that was strange…" 'Hikaru is completely different. What the hell happened to him?'

"I'll show that guy," Ranma said, growling.

"Really? How, you gonna challenge him to a fight or something?" Akane asked. "You should think this one through. Honestly, Ranma, do you want to prove his point even more?"

"He didn't have a point, he was just trying to sound cool." The pig-tailed boy insisted.

"Regardless, you were the one who sounded like he didn't know what was going on at the end. You lost, Ranma," Ranko smirked and her brother scowled at her.

"Shut up!" Akane also smirked and joined in.

"You lost before you started with that one,"

"Damn it!" Ranma turned towards the direction the other teen had wandered off in. "I'll definitely beat that guy…" He had muttered to himself, but both girls heard him.

'Hmm, that's really different. Hikaru Gosunkugi becoming one of Ranma's major rivals? He reserves that attitude for guys like Herb and Saffron. I have a feeling I didn't cause this… Then what could have?' As Ranma climbed back into the window, since class was still technically going, Ranko had one last thought concerning the boy who had significantly changed from the wimp she'd known in the manga. 'And why was he looking at me with that intense gaze?'

---

In a dark room with two boarded up windows, and a multitude of arcane symbols painted on the wall, Hikaru Gosunkugi sat, cross-legged. That would not have been so odd, if the boy was not floating five feet off of the ground with a completely empty look on his face, his eyes shut. On the ground before him was a scroll with a magic circle drawn on that had the single strand of hair he'd taken from Ranma earlier in the center.

"Saotome Ranma is not worth my time," the boy said as he floated down to the ground, as his eyes opened. "He is magically weak, possesses only mid level martial-arts skills and has several debilitating curses. Defeating him would be child's play." The boy stood up and looked down at the scroll on the ground. "But his sister…" The boy's face twisted into a dark grin. "It appears I have finally found her. A confrontation should prove interesting…" The moment that he'd locked eyes with her had been enough to assess her current skill level as a sorceress, as well as her full potential. The scroll rolled itself up and shot up just as his left hand rose up from his side to catch it. The hair slowly moved up and he caught it between his right thumb and index finger.

The scroll he placed on a wooden desk, but the hair, he studied as a sinister grin appeared on his face.

"I still have use for you yet, Ranma Saotome…"

---

The school days passed fairly quickly, and soon it was Saturday, the half-day. Ranma was still angry about his run in with the creep who he had yet to meet again, but Ranko didn't let that bother her. Luckily, or so she saw it, Ryoga had decided to take a walk the same day of their run in with Gosunkugi, and had yet to return. It was at that time that Ranko started feeling especially confused by the boy's behavior; he had no reason to remain or especially seek out the Tendo Dojo anymore, so why was he staying at all? His rivalry with Ranma wasn't enough to make him spend nights there, or help out with chores whenever Kasumi or Ranko could manage to keep an eye on him. He wasn't in love with Akane; she'd seen to that already, and it was obvious in the way he acted.

There was none of the nervous stammering when he spoke to her, none of the envious indignation that he had whenever Ranma mistreated the girl, and he tried to avoid his pig form as much as he could help it. The girl had given up on it, determined to figure it out later when or if he showed up again, whenever that was.

Ranko sat in her desk at school with a frown on her face. Akane had not yet returned from lunch, and she was wondering about the other girl. The fact that school was over at the end of lunch told her she shouldn't have been worried, but she had a feeling that something was up. Ranma hadn't shown up either, and it was getting to the point where she wondered if they'd forgotten about her. Usually, the three met up in their classroom before they left to go home on Saturdays, since they weren't always together at lunch, but today she was the only one there. There were only a few other students in the room at all, and school had been over for almost ten minutes already.

That was when one of the windows opened by itself, a paper airplane flew in and landed on her desk. She blinked, and looked at the window as it magically shut itself. The other students were all staring at her by that point.

"Um, I'm guessing this isn't from Ranma or Akane…" She thought to herself as she unfolded the paper airplane. Inside was a message written in some red ink that was probably supposed to scare her into thinking it was blood. Truth was, blood didn't make very good ink unless one enchanted it to stay permanently semi wet, and she could tell there was no such thing on the paper. It was good for sacrifices and certain summoning rituals, but beyond that a not exactly a good tool. As she read the note, her eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

-

Ten minutes before, In the Lunchroom…

-

Ranma frowned at the note in his hand in confusion. Someone had thrown a paper wad at him from behind, and by the time he'd turned around, they were gone, or hiding it very well. When he looked down at the paper wad, it was partially unfolded and he could see part of his name written inside of it. When he picked it up and read it, he frowned. "If you want to save your fiancée, you must go to the Gym right away…" He snorted as he pocketed the note and stood up from his position on the bench and casually started towards the nearest exit with his hands in his pockets. 'Some guys think they can jerk me around, huh? Think its funny, do they? Heh, well we'll see about that…' As he left the gym, some people stopped and looked at the dark look on his face.

The gym wasn't far, and it was less than a two minute walk at a very brisk pace for someone as fit as Ranma. Though he wouldn't have been able to tell anyone what it was, he'd been feeling inadequate since the whole camera-guy incident and was looking forward to taking his frustration out on some morons. The boy stopped for a moment at the entrance as he considered something; what if they were good? Should he go get Ranko? After a second, Ranma shook his head and sighed. She'd get in the way if there was a real opponent to be had. Ranma simply grabbed at the handle, and found that the door was indeed unlocked, even though it wasn't scheduled for use by any of the sports clubs on Saturday.

As he opened it, however, he was completely surprised. The huge interior of the gym was incredibly dark, and he could barely see even with the light from outside. After a moment of study, his eyes widened as he looked down at the ground and realized that none of the light from outside was even getting into the building, even with the door open.

"What the hell is going on?" He thought as he walked in, not bothering to close the door behind him. It would close on it's own anyhow, because of the thing at the top, he thought. He looked around the room and noticed that the stage was lit up with two balls of fire that floated lazily on either side of it. The flames from the fire flickered as if they were candlelit, and he blinked. "That's… magic!" He finally noticed something in the middle of the stage and gasped. Akane was kneeling, bound by ropes, with her head hung over, as if she was unconscious. "Akane!" His thoughts changed as he suddenly realized something. 'She must have gone to see that Metallium guy!' He quickly started running over to her, but the girl jerked, as if suddenly awake, and looked at him.

"Ranma?" She suddenly looked alarmed. "Ranma, no! There are traps!" She yelled out. The boy immediately stopped where he was and his eyes darted around. His younger years traveling with Genma through certain ancient temples had taught him not to fool around when someone warned of traps. Having almost been squished, or impaled was something that tended to leave a mark even when it didn't. He began to sweat as he remembered a particular event in Central America.

"Heh heh heh…" A familiar, smooth voice chuckled deeply just as a thin bubble of darkness appeared floating in the air between him and Akane. It was so black, that even with the limited light in the gym, he was able to distinguish it right away. The bubble of pitch black slowly formed into the shape of a young man that was familiar to Ranma. Ranma's eyes widened and he pointed at the other boy, angrily.

"You! You are doing this!" He said angrily.

"Ah, as astute as always I see, Saotome." the other boy said with another chuckle. Ranma growled and cracked his knuckles as he prepared to take the other teen on. "You must be planning to fight me or something," The boy said with a grin. "You're a fool if you thought I'd ever give you a chance. I know your true fear, Saotome." At that point, a rope descended from the ceiling and hung just under his grasp. Ranma faltered at that, but only for a second.

"Oh yeah? What's this true fear of mine, then?"

"Enter the darkness and find out for yourself, my friend," The man said with a smile on his face as he pulled on the rope. The floor below Ranma immediately opened up and the pig-tailed teen fell into the ground. The trap on the stage had also activated and Akane screamed as she fell, bound as she was, below the floor. The floor panels quickly closed up and Hikaru smirked viciously. "And now for the true prize…" Just then, the door Ranma had used to get in opened once more as Hikaru faded away into the shadows.

"Hello?" Ranko's voice came from the doorway, sounding confused. "Ranma? Akane?" The girl walked in, without closing the door and maintained her silence beyond that point. She looked around with a frown on her face as she walked further into the gym. The floor panels beneath her opened up, but before she could fall she muttered a spell and floated up and away from the hole. She peered down into it with an even deeper frown as she realized that below the hole was even darker than the gym was. She quickly looked up and started thinking of a few spells as she noticed the floating candle flames on the stage suddenly burn out and the room became even darker.

"So you've come," came a familiar voice from all around her. "Ranko Saotome."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ranko asked as she floated up higher in the room. "Lighting!" She held up her hand and a ball of light appeared. The light didn't extend very far though, and she frowned. "It's being magically weakened? No…" the girl looked around the room as she came up with another assessment. "All of the light in this room is being sucked out."

"Very good, you certainly live up to your reputation." She turned around and faced the floating teen before her.

"What reputation? I haven't exactly been magically active," the girl said with a frown.

"No, you haven't, not in a few hundred years," the boy said with a wicked grin. "…Lina Inverse." Ranko raised a brow as she looked at him and almost laughed. "Hmm, it appears you still don't know, even though someone has been dropping hints for years."

"Know what? I know who Lina Inverse is. I'm not her," the girl said as he held up her chest proudly. "I'm way too top heavy to be her." The boy before her snickered at that.

"You have improved in that area, without a doubt," he said in a jolly voice. Their humor died down quickly though.

"Shouldn't you be challenging Ranma or something?!" she asked angrily. "Why the hell me?"

"Ranma is weak minded, and magically crippled. He can not defeat me," the boy said confidently.

"You shouldn't say something like that," the girl said knowingly. "Because less than a year from now, Ranma will defeat Saffron, the immortal phoenix." Ranko smirked at her opponent's surprised expression as they floated in the air. The surprise was quickly replaced with a look of contemplation, however.

"The potential is definitely there, that is true. But I am not interested in him now." The calculating look on his face was replaced by one of glee. "Ranko Saotome, the one I want, is you!"

"What do you want with me, anyway?" she asked, leveling a stare at him.

"Perhaps, I should jog your memory." He gave her a crazy grin and snapped his fingers. There was a burst of magical energy as Ranko floated there and she felt a strange sensation course over her body.

"W-what the hell..?" She looked down at herself to see her clothes shimmering before they were replaced with the familiar garb of Lina Inverse. Ranko gawked as she looked herself over; the cape was there, the jewel-adorned shoulder pads, heck, even Lina's sword was at her waist. She quickly became aware of an unpleasant sensation, however. "Ow, damn it!" She looked down at her chest and realized that Lina's clothes were a bit more confined than she'd have thought them to be. "What was she, a fricken boy? Geez!" The girl winced. "Can you turn it off now? All this does is hurt, and I'm not exactly remembering anything right now," she said angrily. When she looked at the boy, however, he was sniggering at her. "Ha ha ha, yuk it up you bastard," she said as her hand lit up with orange energy.

"That's more like it," the boy said as he stopped his laughing. He held up his hand and as he assessed her.

"What's more like it, you chump? Take this, Fireball!" She said. The tossed the ball of flames at him, only to watch him easily dodge it in the air. The dangerous projectile continued on its way before it crashed through one of the windows. There was an explosion that could be heard outside and she narrowed her eyes as she seemed to remember something. 'These spells can be a lot more volatile than the martial arts Ranma knows even now! We're going to attract a lot of unwanted attention at this rate…'

"Hmph, you lost your focus, Freeze Arrow!" called a voice from below her. Ranko's eyes widened as she performed a backflip in the air, dodging a long, thin blue projectile. When it crashed into the ceiling, the area it hit immediately froze and was covered in thick sheets of ice. Her eye twitched and she was about to go on the offensive, but he wasn't done. "Freeze Britz!" The girl looked around, but didn't notice a second projectile coming at her. Her eyes widened as she looked straight up and noticed the chunks of ice on the ceiling quickly taking the shape of sharp stalactites. The huge ice needles then proceeded to fall from the ceiling, right at her. She screamed as she flew around, dodging the cluster of lethal projectiles.

"What's with these lethal spells already, damn it?!" the girl asked as she looked down at the other sorcerer, who was merely looking up at her with a grin. "I should Dragon Slave your ass!"

"And destroy Nerima?" He asked with a smirk. The girl flinched – he was right, to do that destructive spell in the middle of the city would have had… repercussions. "My, my, Lina, falling back into your old ways already?"

"Damn it! Shut up!" She yelled as she held up her hand. "Flare Arrow!" She tossed the flaming projectile at him, but he dodged by sliding over to the side without shuffling his feet at all. "The hell?" She blinked as her spell crashed into the ground with explosive force.

"Have you thought that perhaps, it would be unwise to use destructive fire spells?" The boy said, sounding somewhat irritable. He very nearly got a fireball shoved down his throat for his trouble. As he looked at where he'd been standing a moment ago, he tsked.

"It seems I'm going to have to curb your destructive tendencies, Lina the P-" There was a loud crash from under him as a blur shot up from the ground, "AHHHHH!" The boy clutched his face and screamed in pained surprise as the blur spun in the air and landed aside from them both. Ranko glanced at the crouched shape in confusion.

"What the heck… who is…" The dark shape hissed and spat as it crept up towards Gosunkugi with a completely feral look on its face. Ranko's eyes widened and she suddenly remembered something. With a frown, she floated over towards the two and glared at Gosunkugi. "You're not as smart as you seem, Hikaru," the girl said calmly. "Now what were you about to call me?" Gosunkugi scowled at them as he looked up from where he was cradling his face. Ranko flinched at the sight of three long lines that ran up his diagonally face from left to right. Each one was dripping blood.

"We will meet again another time, Lina Inverse," he spat as he was suddenly enshrouded in blackness.

"Well of course," Ranko said, sounding confused. "We go to the same school!" He made a frustrated sound as he faded away. "Hey wait, I'm not Lina!" she said, as she seemed to remember at the last moment. Ranko blinked, as Ranma seemed to calm down once he realized that the other boy had gone already. "Humph, I was looking forward to a climatic battle, but you screwed that up." Ranma-neko merely regarded her for a moment before he sat on his haunches and started licking his paws. "Uh, right. I wonder, is my lap good enough, or should I just get some water?"

"What's going on?" Ranko turned towards the hole that Ranma had made as the room suddenly and quickly began to regain its light. Akane was halfway through the hole and still climbing out, unbound. "There was nothing but a bunch of cats down there, and Ranma seemed to have gone crazy because he was laughing at nothing, but then when the tiger came out…" The girl continued rambling and Ranko looked down at herself and she noticed she was wearing her school uniform again. 'An Illusion, then… Hmm, was everything an illusion? Our magic fight was real, but I don't see any cats down there. I've got to teach Ranma to see through illusions now, having him freeze up in a fight just because someone casts an illusionary cat could be bad.'

"This is some sort of technique… Father might be able to explain it," Ranko said as she looked back from her friend to her brother. "Water should snap him out of it."

"All right, I'll be right back," Akane told her.

"No," Ranko said as she stood up and walked over to a puddle of water that had formed with several chunks of ice still in it. "This should do. Diem Wing!" There was a sudden gust of wind as the air in the gym kicked up. The puddle of water shot at a surprised Ranma and washed over him, changing him into a girl.

"Uhhh…" Ranma blinked and looked around in confusion. "What's goin' on?"

"Nothing, we've had a very long day in a short amount of time," Ranko said as she sighed. 'Hikaru Gosunkugi, huh… this could get really ugly…' "Let's go home already."

"Okay," Ranma said as she stood up. "I'm up for that. Yeah." Akane readily agreed.

-

"You say he was acting possessed?" Genma asked as he looked at his daughter and her best friend. He was sweating rather nervously and suddenly pulled on his collar as if it would reduce the temperature.

"He was acting it, but he wasn't, really. It was almost like he was a cat rather than a person, the way he was acting," Ranko said with a curious look on her face. Genma gulped.

"That's right, when the tiger came out, he started hissing and spitting much the same way the other cats were. He attacked them, but it didn't seem to have any effect, until I noticed that he was tearing the room apart like it was rice paper." Akane said.

"Hmm…" Genma seemed to be having a troubled time wondering whether or not he should tell them.

"It reminded me of something I read about once," Ranko said thoughtfully. "Called the Neko-ken. Apparently, you have to wrap the trainee, preferably when a child, in fish-sausages and toss them in a pit of starving cats. Doing it repeatedly, sometimes with different things like sardines or other cat treats, might help. It works by making the trainee so scared that they mentally become a cat to cope with the fear when surrounded by them…" Genma was staring at her, incredulously.

"…But no one sane would train anyone in that. Right?" Akane asked, appalled at the training procedure.

"Right… well, some fanatics who didn't know up from down in martial arts might do it, but…" Genma sweatdropped at that.

"Someone did do that to Ranma. It's just as you read, Ranko-chan." The man said finally. Both girls looked at him with surprise, although one of them was feigning it. "A horrible man had read about it, and decided he wanted his son to learn it for ultimate power. But, he decided that he would test it on _my_ son before teaching it to his own!"

---

Genma's Crappy Flashback

---

"Noooo! What have you done to my son?!" A younger Genma, somewhat skinnier and with a full head of hair was staring in horror at the entrance to a pit, where his son's screams were coming from. "You will not get away with this, monster!"

"Hmph," a non-descript, skinny, bishounen man with a skinny, non-descript bishounen boy by his side snorted. "This technique is a pathetic failure. I cannot believe I even considered it. Come, Ryu, we have no further business here," The man said coldly.

"Yes, Father." The boy said in an equally icy voice.

"Monster! You will pay for what you have done to my son!" Genma growled and put his hands together. "Kijin Raishu Dan!" he opened them quickly and a vacuum blade flew at the duo. Both father and son merely dodged it however.

"You are no match for me," the father said. "I will waste time on you no longer. Come, Ryu!" The two took off running.

"Wait! You demon! Come back here!" Genma started after them, but his son's screams increased in volume. Caught between going after the evil duo and saving his son's life, the choice was easy. Genma sighed deeply and leapt into the pit. "Hold on, son! Father is coming for you!"

---

End Flashback

---

Genma wiped the crocodile tears from his eyes with a handkerchief that Akane had handed him while she watched him with pity in her eyes, while Ranko merely watched with a half-lidded stare. The three were in seiza in the dojo now, where Genma had taken them to begin his tale.

"Even my sealed technique did not hurt them. And once I had saved Ranma, however, those two were long gone." Ranko frowned as he mentioned the 'Sealed Technique'. He hadn't given it a name in his story, but from the vague description she was able to figure out that he was actually referring to one of his real sealed techniques. It was an old lying technique, though – to make a story seem more realistic, you add as much truth to it as you can. The way that he described his technique said that yes, it was real, but no, he was not going to tell them what it was or how it worked.

"Poor Ranma," Akane said somberly as she looked at the older man before her.

"Yeah, Poor Ranma," Ranko said somewhat irritably. "Listen, I think I'm gonna go get the real story from him-"

"Wait!" Genma said, panicking. "He, he… Ranma's memories of that day are not clear. He thinks I am the one who threw him into the pit, and is thoroughly convinced of it." The old man sniffled again. "I don't blame him. For failing to save him, I might as well have thrown him in there myself!" He said, as he apparently broke down and held his hands in his face as his body shook. "I failed my son!"

"Saotome-Ojisan!" Akane scowled at Ranko, who looked genuinely shocked. She went over to comfort the older man with a few tears of her own. "There, there…"

'Man, that guy sure is crafty,' Ranko thought as her eye twitched. 'And Akane sure is gullible. Geez.' She sighed out loud and walked out of the dojo. "Father…" The girl stopped at the exit to the dojo. "…You haven't failed anyone." She continued walking out with a sour taste in her mouth. That had been more for Akane's benefit than Genma's; it wouldn't do for Akane to think she was heartless on the matter.

Akane watched, partly mollified as her best friend walked out of the dojo. "That girl…"

"It's okay, Akane," Genma said as his tears abated. "She's upset with me. As will be my wife. But I failed my duty as Ranma's guardian… It's understandable."

"No it's not," Akane said with a frown. "A guy good enough to defeat forbidden techniques doing something like this to Ranma while you were buying food isn't your fault! You didn't know what would happen when he chased after that butterfly!"

"No, no, Akane, I must, I must take responsibility. It is my failure. Do not worry yourself about it any longer," He said with a gentle smile. "You are a good girl. I know you will make my son a very happy man." Akane blushed at that and looked away.

"…Th-thank you…"

---

The next day saw Ryoga finally returning to the Tendo Dojo. It had been nearly a week, but he was there, and it reminded Ranko of something. As the two of them stood in the dojo, Ryoga having just walked in, and Ranko watching from the doorway that led to the house, she spoke.

"Why do you keep coming back?" Ryoga chuckled somewhat bitterly at that as he set his traveling pack down.

"Don't be stupid. We're engaged, remember?" He said, looking at her out of one eye.

"What? Don't tell me you actually want this--!"

"Of course I don't," He said with a snort as he sat down beside the traveling pack. "You've called me an honorless coward and the like several times, haven't you? Well just what would that make me if I ran away from a silly arranged marriage?" He casually opened his pack and reached into it, apparently searching for something. "You did say you'd figure out a way for us to get out of it, though, didn't you?" He asked calmly.

"Well, yeah, kind of. But I haven't been thinking about it recently," she said with gritted teeth. 'There _was_ some trouble at school, you know. An evil sorcerer kidnapped my brother and his girlfriend to lure me into some kind of fight that didn't end the way anyone expected it to.' He smirked at her with that and shook his head.

"You'll never get it done like that." He seemed to finally find what he was looking for and brought out a small red box with a ribbon tied around it in a bow to keep it shut. "Here, catch." He tossed it at her lazily and she caught it just the same. When she untied the ribbon and looked inside, her eye began to twitch.

"I hope you don't think you're getting anywhere by giving me these," She said as she looked down at the chocolates. He snorted at that.

"I got one for everyone," he said, holding up several more red boxes. The girl's eye ticked at that, but she realized something almost as soon as she saw the boxes.

'None of the other ones have a ribbon…' She looked down at the thing that was now resting on the dojo's floor. He ignored her as he continued to rummage around, apparently still looking for more gifts. The girl glanced up at him and frowned, turning her gaze back to the red box. 'It doesn't mean anything…'

-----

Seiza – proper Japanese style of sitting, look it up for the detailed explanation

(¬9ω6)¬


	8. Interlude

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Why did I do this? I dunno, lol.

---Interlude: Hot Date!?! The plan that backfires---

It was another dreary Sunday and both of the Saotome twins were spending it in the Tendo Dojo, fighting it out in a light sparring match. Ranko ducked under a quick set of punches and jumped back to dodge Ranma's leg as he kicked out at her. She looked up in time to see him flying at her in a high kick, but rather than dodging or making to grab his foot and use the momentum against him, she jumped up over his kick, connecting a knee with his unguarded face. The boy flipped in the air and landed crouched on his feet, as she fell back to the ground.

"That was pretty good," Ranma admitted as he stood up, rubbing his chin. His sister panted as she stood there in an offensive stance. "I didn't expect you to counter like that."

"One of the –huff- main tenets of the school is –huff- being unpredictable. You should –huff- know that, bro." She said with a loose smirk, sweat pouring down her face. Ranma smiled at that and took up a different stance.

"Yeah," He said as he charged her. "I know that." He suddenly vanished from her sight in a blaze of speed, but the girl had a knowing smile and ducked in order to avoid a roundhouse kick from behind. She grabbed his leg and tossed him into the air over her shoulder, sending him into a series of flips. "I'm starting to catch on to your speed, and that particular blow from behind is getting old," Ranko said without losing her smirk, as the boy turned in the air and faced her. When he landed crouched down on the ground, he stood up quickly and grinned at her.

"That's what I like you to think," He said cheerfully. Ranko snorted and rolled her eyes.

'He moves to the left and stops behind me. If I can catch him in the middle of his movement, he'll have to admit that I'm getting better.' She narrowed her eyes as he smirked tauntingly and charged her again, before blurring to the side.

"I've got you!" she yelled as she turned to the left and raised her knee in the air.

"Are you seeing after images?" came a voice from behind her. "I didn't think I was that fast!" she smirked and kicked behind her, catching her brother as he least expected it. Without stopping, she leapt backwards into a chain of kicks, each one taking advantage of his surprise at first, but blocked as it winded down. They separated in the air and he smirked at her again.

"A trick where you move to the left, and keep going until you're on my right?" She said confidently. "I've seen that before."

"Heh," he shrugged. "Oh well. I guess you have been getting a little better." He looked at her appreciatively and folded his arms. "I guess I'll go all out next time. I didn't land a single blow this time, heh." The red headed girl grinned at that – it was the point to their little exercise. Ranma hadn't fought her honestly once in their sparring sessions, and so she came up with an idea: If he couldn't touch her without being serious in one of their sparring sessions, he'd fight her for real from then on. "You go ahead and take a bath."

"Heh heh, all right! Now the real training can begin…" She looked proud of herself as she turned around and walked out of the Dojo. Akane, who had been watching the whole thing in her own gi from the sidelines, winced as she caught sight of the kick-me sign taped to Ranko's back. When Ranko shut the door behind herself, the girl looked over at her fiancé, who was stifling a fit of giggles.

"When did you put that on her?"

"The last time I went around her, just now," he said.

"Ah." She walked over to her fiancé and soon had a grin that shared in his mirth. "You ready?" She asked.

"Just a moment," Ranma said as he tried to stop laughing, as he moved his head around in a circle, until several loud pops could be heard. "I've been waiting for a serious fight all day, you know." Ranko had made Ranma promise to make a similar deal with Akane. It hadn't taken quite as long for the Tendo girl to win on that.

"You won't be disappointed," the girl said as she took her own offensive stance.

"I'd better not be," the pigtailed boy informed her as he took another stance. "Saa… come!"

---

In the washroom, Ranko scowled as she looked at the kick-me sign. Under the larger text, in smaller hand-writing, were two more words: Try Again.

She screamed and cursed in a rather immature fit, knocking several things over, before ripping the sign in half and using a moderately sized fireball to destroy it.

---

Akane grunted as she blocked a punch from Ranma and spun on her foot, dodging a palm strike. She jumped back to disconnect from him and looked him closely for any openings. The two rejoined the fight in under a second and as Akane threw a punch that was easily dodged, she started talking.

"So, Ranma," Akane said as she caught a punch and used his momentary surprise to retaliate with one of her own, which he dodged by jumping away. "Remember that discussion we had about Ranko and Ryoga?"

"What, you mean getting them together?" Ranma asked without missing a beat as he jumped at her with a fist cocked back.

"Yeah, that one," She agreed as she side stepped his attack and rushed in to take advantage of his recoil. "You made a decision?"

"Yeah," Ranma said as he rolled forward, causing her to run by him. He quickly jumped up into the air and span as he flew towards a wall so that he was facing her. "I thought it was a good idea." He landed on the wall and immediately pushed off towards her with incredibly speed. The girl shifted and crouched down on one knee before jumping up at him in an uppercut that caught him in the chin, sending him flying backwards again. "Ouch!"

"First blow's mine," she smirked as he flipped in the air and landed. He rubbed his sore chin again with a frown on his face. He hadn't exactly been going easy on her, as per their promise, and she still managed to land the first blow. "Anyway, I was thinking, maybe we could arrange for them to have a date?"

"A date?" He asked as he stood up partially, still in an offensive stance. "I'm listening."

"Eh, I was hoping you could tell me how to go about doing that," She said. "I couldn't figure out a way. She's so resentful of him."

"Really?" Ranma cocked his head to the side before rushing her. "I think I might have a good idea."

"What is it?" She asked as she tightened her stance.

"How about a double date?" He asked as he leapt at her. She froze with her eyes widened as he clocked her in the same spot she'd hit him with enough force to send her rolling, head over heels. "Hey, why didn't you move?" he asked as he looked at her.

"Double date?" Akane asked as she stood up, ignoring his question. "Um, but who would they go with?"

"Well, us." Ranma said with a blush. "I mean, cause we could make sure nothin' bad happens on the date." The girl's eyes widened again and she found herself nodding in agreement.

"You're right, we could practically control the date like that. How would we get them to agree to it, though?" she asked as she started circling him, to remind him of the sparring match.

"Pfft, I got that covered," Ranma smirked as he followed her example. "You just watch."

---

After her relaxing bath, Ranko walked into the guest room with a towel around her shoulders, where she'd planned on hanging out until it was dinnertime, either reading manga or practicing some custom spell work. On her futon was a note written to her in Ranma's handwriting. As she bent down to look at it, her eye started twitching.

'Dear Ranko-san…'

---

Ryoga blinked at the note that was left on the top of his traveling pack. On top of it was a folded up piece of paper addressed to him, written in very sloppy handwriting. As he picked it up and opened it, his eyes widened, and then a confused frown settled on his face.

---

Later that evening, Akane and Ranma stood waiting in the living room. Akane was wearing a light, striped sundress, and Ranma was wearing a blue Chinese tunic as they waited for the two to appear. Akane looked at her betrothed with a troubled expression as they waited.

"You sure this is going to work?"

"Of course it's gonna work, it always works in the movies and on TV," he chuckled as he pulled on his shirt to make sure it was just right.

"How did you get them to agree to this, anyway?"

"I struck a deal with Nabiki," He said with a grin, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a credit card with the middle Tendo's name on it, and a few thousand yen. Akane's eyebrow rose slightly at that. "I figured that I'd probably be out a few thousand, but why the heck not? I haven't really spent time with Ranko doing anything other than sparring, either, so…"

"And they know you're paying?"

"Of course," the pig-tailed teen snorted.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Ranko's voice came as she walked down the stairs wearing a black turtle neck shirt sleeves that stopped at her elbows and dark blue pants. Her hair had a much smoother texture than usual and her face seemed a bit cleaner than ususal. Ranma blinked at the girl's apparel.

"Those pants synthetic fiber?"

"Yeah, it's polyester. I was thinking spandex, but realized I didn't have anything like that. I resolved to get some," The girl said cheerfully. The boy and girl before her stared at that with an awkward feeling hanging in the air.

"Right..."

"Anyway, you two, where's Ryoga?"

"He's right here," Kasumi's voice came as she led the lost boy into the living room. He was just wearing his usual yellow tunic and black trousers. Over that, he had an unbuttoned shirt with short sleeves. Akane blinked and looked up at Ranma. "You four have fun now, okay?" She said as she smiled sweetly at them.

"We will, thanks," Ranko said with a smile as they all walked out of the house. Once they were on the sidewalk in front of the dojo, she spoke up again. "So, where do we go first?"

"Well, I heard they were having a festival over in the park, we could go for that." Ranma suggested.

"Okay, sounds fun." Akane agreed.

"I'm up for that," Ranko said, approvingly.

"Whatever," Ryoga shrugged.

"Let's go, then!" Ranko said cheerfully as she took the lead. The other teens easily fell into line behind her, and both Ranma and Akane kept checking periodically to make sure that Ryoga was still with them. As they walked down the street, Ranko narrowed her eyes as she was pulled into her own thoughts. 'Okay, Okay. I can handle this. Just act myself and Ryoga'll never fall in love with me.' She glanced backwards by turning her head slightly and looking out of the corner of her eye in a way that was hardly noticeable and then turned back to face forwards.

'Those two are definitely trying to get us together. That much is obvious. But that they'd agree to a double date… either I did better at pushing them together than I thought, or they're both really desperate to make us a legitimate couple.' As she wracked her memories to try and remember any evidence of Ranma and Akane getting closer, a particular event came to mind.

'That's right – that time in the dojo...' She thought with a grin. 'That kiss they had would have lasted a bit longer, I'm sure, if I hadn't interrupted. It was like that in the Manga, although they were interrupted before they could kiss that time. Hmmm…It could also be the fact that Shampoo hasn't shown up yet to strain their relationship, but that could be happening real soon too.' As she continued with that line of thought, Ryoga, who was staying behind the other three, watched her with an indifferent look on his face.

'This morning, she's telling me that she's still thinking of a way to split us apart, and then she goes and writes that note. What's the big deal? I'll never understand women.'

---

"We're-heeeere," Ranko announced in a sing-song voice. "Waiii! Look at all of these people!" Ranma and Akane both sweat dropped at that. "Most of them are wearing Kimono, but we shouldn't look too out of place," she told them.

"Right," Ryoga snorted from where he was standing. "What should we do first?" There were a wide variety of stands and games all around, and there was a path that lead from the entrance to the festival with various stands on each side. The place was lit up by tall, standing torches rather than the park's lampposts, and there was a constant bustle of people moving in and out of the place, groups of people just like them, families, and other couples doing an assortment of activities. Ranko ran over to a slightly younger teen girl wearing a Kimono holding up some cotton candy excitedly, surprising both Ranma and Akane. Ryoga sighed as he followed after her.

"Hey, little girl! Where did you get the cotton candy?" she asked. The younger girl looked at her in wide-eyed surprise before hesitantly pointing further in. "Thanks a ton!" She bolted off again and Ryoga growled as he ran after her.

"Hey, wait up!"

"Oh great, he'll get lost! Come on!" Ranma called to Akane as he grabbed her by the arm and took off after them.

The girl with the cotton candy stared after them with confusion written on her face before she scrunched up her face in concentration. "…Miss Lina?"

-

"Thank you! wai!" The cotton-candy vendor chuckled as he handed Ranko a stick and she gave him a few coins in return. She took a few steps away just in time for Ryoga to stop right in front of her, with Ranma and Akane on his tail. "Oh, you guys! They have Cotton Candy!" She said as she pointed at the vendor.

"Hey, they do," Ranma said, blinking at the man. He waved with the same smile on his face and Ranma nodded in return. "Why'd you run off like that, though?"

"This stuff is pretty good!" Ranko said with an expression of delight on her face as she took some of it in her mouth. "You guys want some?"

"Nah," Ryoga said, sounding bored.

"Actually…I do," Akane blushed as she spoke up. Ranma sighed as he reached into his pocket and approached the vendor. Moments later, he walked back to the blushing girl and handed her her own stick of the stuff, silently wishing he was a girl so that he could have some of his own. "Thanks," Akane said softly.

"So, like I said earlier," Ryoga said now that he was sure that Ranko wasn't going to run off again. "What now?"

"How about that game over there? You can get stuffed animals as prizes," Akane pointed over to a particular stand that had a variety of dolls on the shelves behind the games.

"Looks like fun," Ranko said as she started over towards it. Akane quickly moved to follow her and Ranma sighed, hanging his head.

"When are we going to do something I want to do?"

"Oh shut up, we just got started," Ryoga snorted as they both moved to follow them.

-

A while later, the four were walking, with both girls taking bits of their cotton candy apart. Ranko was holding a small black piglet doll, and she had borrowed Ryoga's bandana to tie around the thing's neck. When everyone looked back up at his head, though, another one could be seen in its place. While Akane and Ranma tried to figure it out, Ranko pointed out another event.

"Hey, isn't that a strength tester or something?" She asked. The other three teens looked at where she was pointing.

"It is. Should be easy enough, don't you think?" Akane looked back at her fiancé.

"You should give it a try, bro." Ranko added. Ranma sighed and reached into his pocket, before muttering something.

"Yeah, yeah…" As he approached the operator, he spoke up. "Say, what's the grand prize for this thing?"

"Eh? Concert tickets," the man said with a grin. "You want to try this, kid?"

"I guess," Ranma said as he handed the man some money. He walked back over to stand in line behind a bunch of three or four other guys who were all waiting for a crack at the thing. The pig-tailed teen fidgeted as the most of the other guys, most of them over muscular, looked at him and laughed. The guy in the front of the line was a whole head taller and had fore arms as thick as Ranma's thighs. The only one that looked remotely normally proportioned was the guy in the red hakama and hitoe with incredibly long black hair who was right before Ranma. The guy glanced at him for a moment and snorted before turning back around.

Contestant after contestant failed, none of them getting up more than one fourth of the way up, until it was left to him and the guy in the old fashioned clothes. He stepped up with a frown on his face and took the little hammer in his hands.

"So you have to hit it hard to get that thing inside to hit the bell at the top, or whatever right?" he asked, looking back at Ranma. Ranma blinked at that, and tilted his head.

"Well yeah, but you don't want to break it," Ranma pointed out. He didn't know about other guys, but it was a common problem in his experience. He'd learned the hard way that most people didn't take well to having the hammer shatter, or the stand destroyed. The black haired guy frowned even more at that.

"That doesn't make very much sense…"

"You can do it, Inuyasha!" a girl in a Kimono rooted out from the sidelines. "Just try not to break it!"

"Oi, I know already! This guy told me!" He said, thumbing back at Ranma. The proprietor merely smirked as they continued to talk of not breaking the thing. The one called Inuyasha turned back to face the thing and looked at the toy hammer again before holding his arm up and hitting the thing. It made it up three quarters of the way up, causing the owner to clutch his chest in surprise. "Huh. I guess I held back too much." Inuyasha shrugged as he set the thing down.

"That's too bad," the owner said with a relieved smile. "You can have a consolation prize. Take this to that stand over there and you can redeem it for one of the stuffed animals, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Inuyasha shrugged as he took the ticket and walked over to the girl in the Kimono. "I didn't get those tickets you wanted," he said as he got close, and the two started walking away.

"That's okay, you probably wouldn't have enjoyed that concert anyway. It's J-pop," She sighed.

"Eww…"

"It's not so bad…" The girl said as they got further away. Ranko ran over to them, and Ranma blinked as he watched them.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Ranko said as she stopped behind the couple. She looked at the girl. "Is your name Kagome?"

"Huh?" the girl said, blinking. "How'd you know?"

"It's not important," Ranko said. "Do you live around here?"

"Hmmm? Not really…" the girl said, looking confused. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"Nawww, forget about it," Ranko said as she glanced at the black-haired boy. "I didn't know it was a new moon, though. Must have slipped my mind." Before either of them could react, she smiled and waved, walking away to rejoin her group. "See ya!" She left the two staring at her with bewildered looks on their faces.

"What was that about?" Akane asked her as the red-head joined them.

"Nothing important," the red head said. There was a sudden loud ding, And the three teens looked over at Ranma to see the guy grudgingly hand him a ticket. Ranma walked over to rejoin them and they looked over at him.

"Right, so we redeem this over there," Ranma said, pointing at the stand where the guy in the hakama, and presumably, his girlfriend, were standing. The girl squealed as she got a dog-shaped doll, and they walked off. The four walked over to the stand and Ranma handed the ticket to the person who was standing behind the counter. They took a look at it and reached under the countertop to reveal two identical tickets.

"Congratulations," the person said with a smile as Ranma took them, handing over his voucher. The four walked away towards their next attraction.

---

"Well, that was fun," Ranko said as she led the group out of the festival and into the unused sections of the park. As she looked around, she could see a multitude of benches along the various paths. "Let's split up here for a little while, shall we? I have something I want to talk to Ryoga about, privately." She said as she spotted one surrounded on three sides by heavy vegetation. "C'mon, Ryoga-kun," She said sweetly as she grabbed his arm and led him away. Ryoga shot both Ranma and Akane a confused look as she pulled him away. "Remember, this is a date for you too!" the red haired girl called back.

Ranma and Akane were both left standing there.

"Should we keep an eye on them?"

"I trust Ryoga," Ranma shrugged.

"I don't trust Ranko, though. This whole thing has been going too smooth to let her get him alone." Akane frowned.

"Hmm, yeah…"

-

Ranko sat next to Ryoga, leaning on his shoulder, with their various prizes off to the side.

"What's with the sudden change in your behavior?" Ryoga asked after a pause. He'd been on edge the entire night, waiting for Ranko to insult him or say something mean to him. She hadn't though, not once, and it had left him wondering.

"Please, don't talk," The girl said in a dreamy voice. She glanced around without moving her head and lowered her voice. "Ranma and Akane set us up. They're trying to get us together," the girl said in a whisper.

"Okay…" The lost boy lowered his own voice to a whisper. "What?"

"I didn't write that note, Ranma did. They're trying to make us like each other," Ranko continued. "Don't shout out." Ryoga closed his mouth, as he had been about to do just that. "Play it cool. They're watching us right now, I'll explain why I'm doing this when they leave us alone," she said. Ryoga frowned at that.

"Fine."

-

Ranma and Akane both watched from their place in the vegetation.

"You think they'll be alright?" Akane whispered to her fiancé, unaware of the byplay between the two on the bench in front of them.

"Seems like it," Ranma said, just as quiet. They both withdrew from the vegetation and started walking down a dirt path.

"Maybe all they needed was a push in the right direction," Akane said aloud once they were far enough.

"Yeah. They're both perfect for each other," He said as they continued walking. "Although, something did feel a bit off about that last bit."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure they'll be fine," Akane assured him. They soon came to a bench that was under a particularly large tree and sat down apart from each other. "So what should we do next?"

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, looking at her, confused.

"What time is it?" the girl asked, looking at her fiancé.

"Um…" Ranma glanced at his watch. "It's almost eight,"

"Still plenty early. We could go out for food or something," Akane pointed out.

"But Akane, I'm paying for all of this," He groaned. "All four of us."

"Don't worry, I'm sure your wallet will last the night," she said with a smile.

"Right…" He sighed. "I guess so." 'Good-bye, life savings…'

"Good."

The pair continued to sit there in silence, looking at everything but each other. Ranma glanced at his wristwatch and noticed that five minutes had passed.

"Say, Akane…" He started.

"Yes, Ranma?" She asked, looking at him. The boy glanced up at her nervously and started poking his index fingers together.

"Well, this is a double date…" He said nervously. "I mean, if you don't want to do anything, I'm fine with that, but I just wanted to remind you…" They both locked eyes and then looked away, blushing, as another silence passed between them.

"Ranma," Akane broke the silence that time. "Remember that time…the time I came up with this idea to get them together?"

"Huh?" Ranma looked at her, with a blank expression on his face.

"Before Ranko came into the Dojo…"

"Huh? What are you- Oh." Ranma blinked and looked back down at the ground, twiddling his thumbs. "Y-you want to try that again?" He asked, nervously.

"Umm…I think so."

"W-well…If you're sure…" They both looked at each other nervously. They both scooted over a closer to each other hesitantly. "I mean if you don't want to, you don't have to…"

"Don't you like me?" Akane asked with a frown as she looked at him. "Am I ugly or something?"

"I'm just… well, I mean, it's your decision," Ranma said. "I uh…I mean, when you smile…"

"Come on then, quit being a wuss."

"I ain't no damn wuss," Ranma said, frowning. "It's just… well… fine…"

-

"They're gone now," Ryoga said as he scooted away from Ranko. The girl frowned as she sat up, having been surprised by the movement. "What the hell are you up to?" He asked, not looking at her.

"You idiot…" She grumbled as she absently rubbed her head. The girl sighed and crossed one leg over the other and leaned back, putting both arms behind the bench. "Fine. I was having fun."

"Having fun?" Ryoga looked at her in confusion. "Why did you have to drag me into this? You can't have fun on your own or something?"

"No," She answered curtly. "I can't." Ryoga looked even more confused by that. "Listen, Ryoga… I don't have many friends." The girl turned her head away. "Besides Akane, no one at school tries to get to know the real me. I'm popular, but that's more annoying than anything else." Ryoga frowned and turned away from her, to face forward. "It gets to be pretty boring."

"They don't know the real you? Those are some lucky people," He snorted.

"Whatever, jerk." The two sat in silence for a few moments before Ryoga finally decided to speak up.

"…I didn't exactly have the best life either you know."

"You have Ranma though, don't you?" She asked, without turning to look at him. "He's always thought of you as a friend."

"That's true, I guess. But like you said, you have Akane-san. I'm no better off than you."

"Heh…" the girl's hand went back down to her side and she turned to face forward. From their bench, they could see a wide variety of plant life and the like. "I guess you're right. That's something we have in common."

"Stop talking about it then," Ryoga said, sounding annoyed. "You're not acting like yourself at all."

"I guess you're right," She said as she looked at him. "What should we talk about then?"

"They're trying to get us together, you said," He reminded her.

"Yes, your note said something about Ranma paying for the date, right?" He looked at her and nodded. "I think we can work that to our advantage…"

-

Ranma's hands were on both of Akane's shoulders and he was leaning in. Akane had closed her eyes as soon as he'd taken a hold of her shoulders. As Ranma got within breathing distance of her face, the girl's face turned red and he closed his own eyes.

On their first try, he crashed into her nose with his own.

"Ow," Akane groaned. "Maybe you should look where you're aiming."

"Uh, y-yeah," Ranma said as he opened his eyes. The girl still had that blush on her face and her eyes closed as she rubbed her sore nose. "I'm not so sure about this…"

"I thought you weren't a wuss?" She said, a frown forming on her face. The blush was still there, though.

"I ain't," He hesitantly leaned in again, this time a bit slower.

-

"That sounds like a good idea," Ryoga said as he shared a particularly evil grin with the girl before him. "You said he probably borrowed from Nabiki, right? That girl has a credit card, for sure."

"He probably has that," the girl nodded with a smirk. "What's the most expensive place you can think of?"

"Well, there's this real nice place in Kyoto…" He started.

"Local," She reminded him with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, well there's always Kobayashi Gardens…"

"I've heard of them…" Ranko said with a thoughtful look. "That's definitely a good idea. They'll probably be familiar with Nabiki's name."

"Okay, then it's decided. When should we go find them?"

"I dunno. Let's give it a few more minutes."

"Fine," He turned to look back out over the rest of the park. There was a shuffling to his side and he blinked as he felt the girl lean on his shoulder again. This time he didn't move. On an impulse, he moved his arm up and put it around her shoulders.

-

"Th-that wasn't so bad," Ranma said. He was hunched over, looking at the ground with his hands wrung together. Akane was also looking at the ground, but both of her knees were folded sideways on the bench.

"Y-yeah."

"You uh… You want to try it again?" He asked, looking up at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Um…" The girl looked hesitant. "Yeah." He sat up and turned to face her again, and she him. "Hey…You want to… um…"

"Huh?" Ranma was looking confused by that point.

"You want to try and stick it in this time?" Akane blurted out, looking at him.

"Stick it… oh, that." He blinked at that. "You mean make out, right?" He asked.

"Um, I guess," She said hesitantly with another blush.

"…"

"Ranma?"

"…"

"Are you okay? Do you not want to?"

"I do," he said simply. "Let's, uh…" He scooted closer to her again. "A-alright, I th-think I'm ready f-for this…" He said shakily.

"If you're scared, you don't have to," she said honestly.

"I'm not scared, I've just never done this before," He said.

"Me neither."

"That other stuff, you know, you do with your friends and stuff… This… no."

"Yeah…"

-

"Let's go look for them now," Ranko said as she abruptly stood up, surprising Ryoga.

"All right, finally," Ryoga said. "What the heck were you waiting for, anyway?"

"I just wanted to sit for a little while, that's all," She said as she looked around for a path. "I think they went over that way," She said as she started down one of them making sure to keep an eye on Ryoga. As they walked Ranko looked around at the many empty park benches and decided it wouldn't hurt to call out their names. "Hey! Akane! Ranma! Where are you guys?"

"Ow!" Ranko blinked at the sudden shout. That had been Ranma's voice. She and Ryoga turned in the direction of the voice and walked across some grass to find a large tree that would have provided a good cover to any serious couple. As they got closer, Ranko held up a hand, signaling Ryoga to stop, and pulled him down to the ground, where they hid behind some of the smaller foliage.

"I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, Akane, I know, she surprised me too. I've bitten my tongue worse than that before," Ranko's eyes widened at that. "Come on, let's go find them."

'Bitten his tongue? Oh my god… I don't believe this.' Her face took on a wide smirk as the couple stood up, with Akane still blushing profusely, and Ranma holding his mouth with one of his hands and a grimace on his face leading the way. Ranko stood up and motioned for Ryoga to as well, and he gave her a confused look.

"What was that all about?" He asked as she led him around the path to intercept Ranma.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Just come on." She turned and looked over at Ranma and Akane, before holding up a hand. "Heh heh heh. Hey! You two! Over here!" The two in question instantly turned to face them and walked over to join them. Akane was still blushing heavily, while Ranma tried hard not to let his pain show. "So, how did things go on your end?" She asked, looking at the two of them. "Was it ro-man-tic?"

"Yeah, sure," Ranma grumbled. Akane's blush intensified and Ranma continued. "Romantic. Listen, do you still feel like hangin out? I mean, we could go home, but Akane said she was hungry, so…"

"I didn't say I was hungry," Akane reminded him. "Just that it wasn't too late to go out for something to eat."

"Right, what she said," Ranma said. He opened his mouth with a frown and stuck his finger in it and then pulled it out. "Is that blood? Oh great, it is." He sighed and Akane put her face in her hands.

"What happened?" Ranko asked innocently.

"I bit my tongue," Ranma explained. "Don't worry about it, happens all the time. It's not a big deal." He waved it off.

"You sure? There's _blood_, after all…" Ryoga pointed out, with a faux worried expression.

"Yeah, I'm _sure_," Ranma said with an annoyed frown. "Listen, you guys want dinner or not?"

"That sounds awesome right now, that cotton candy wasn't exactly a meal," Ranko said as she looked at Ryoga.

"Yeah, we were thinking of going to a place called Kobayashi Gardens…"

---

Later that night, Ranma, Akane, Ranko and Ryoga all strolled back into the Tendo household, stopping only to leave their shoes at the door. The latter of the four were looking somewhat pleased with themselves, while the former pair had empty expressions set on their face.

The final bill for dinner had been in the five-figure range.

Ranma stopped and dropped down on the couch as soon as it came into view, lying face down. Akane fell down next to him, and Ranko looked down at them with concern.

"You two okay down there?"

"Yeah, just fine. I've signed my soul away, no big deal." Ranma said, his voice partially muffled by the couch.

"Peachy." Akane had an unblinking stare at nothing in particular.

"Well, thanks for tonight. It was a blast," Ranko said with a carefree smile.

"Yeah, I had fun too," Ryoga had an honest-seeming smile on his face. "I haven't done anything like that before."

"Yeah, no problem," Ranma said, still face down in the couch.

"Come again," Akane replied in a rather dead voice.

"Uh, yeah," Ranko said, with a sweat drop. "Come on, Ryoga. Let's get you to the dojo," She said as she took him by the hand and led him away.

Akane's gaze slowly turned to Ranma. Ranma didn't move at all.

"…Somehow, I get the feeling tonight didn't go the way we planned it to." The girl said as she looked down at her fiancé unflinchingly.

"You got that right." Ranma said. "But I have a feeling someone else was in control most of the time."

-

In the dojo, Ranko was standing before Ryoga as he unpacked a futon from his bag, which had been left in the Dojo.

"You should just forget about tonight," Ranko said as she had an uninterested look about her.

"Yeah, fine," Ryoga said uncaringly, as he laid his futon out. "Why are you still here, again?"

"Hmph," The girl frowned at him and then turned around, walking towards the door. Ryoga stared after her with an impassive look, and when she stopped at the door, she turned around. "What are you looking at?" She demanded.

"You're still here," Ryoga said as he turned away.

"Yeah." The girl tore her eyes away from him for a final time. "See you later." She turned the lights off, walked out and shut the door behind her.

"…" Ryoga looked down at his futon in the darkness. "I'll definitely never understand women."

---

For those who don't know, five figure range for yen is more like three figure range for USD. If they were American, they'd have been spending hundreds on their food. That is a bit more realistic for teenagers than tens of thousands, no? 

(ºoº)


	9. Just be conscious!

Disclaimer: blah blah blah I don't own blah blah not mine blah blah

If you see any big colossal errors, or something doesn't make sense please, by all means, keep it to yourself. /sarcasm

--Chapter 7: Just be conscious! The awakening of events--

Ranko found herself floating around in complete darkness.

"Ummm…what the heck is this?" The red head looked around in obvious confusion.

"Beats the hell outta me." Ranko blinked and turned to see a boy her age with an irritated expression on his face.

"Who are you?" The girl demanded.

"I'm the guy you used to be. I'm not sure what's going on, but for some reason it looks like we've split our consciousness or something."

"I can explain that." Came another voice from the side. They both turned and saw someone who neither could have predicted would be there; Lina Inverse.

"What the hell…"

"Okay, this is one weird as all hell dream," Ranko said as she shook her head. "Lina Inverse and my past self. Yeah, great. When you guys decide to start making sense and cease to exist, call me," She said as she started floating away from them.

"You're not going to get very far," Lina said lazily as she floated over to the boy.

"Watch me," Ranko said as she grit her teeth and continued to float away. Brian and Lina watched as Ranko continued to try and float away from them. She turned her head around and frowned. She hadn't gotten any further.

"You done yet?" The boy asked with a sigh. "Looks like we're going to be here until we get this sorted out."

"You're right about that." Lina said.

"Okay, I'll humor you two idiots for now," Ranko said flippantly as she floated back over to them. "So you're saying you know what to do?" She looked at Lina.

"I'm saying I know what's going on, not what to do." Lina frowned. "Weren't you listening?"

"Not really," Ranko admitted.

"Okay, so what the hell is going on then?" the boy demanded.

"It's like you said, our consciousness split," Lina said. "This wasn't supposed to happen, as far as I can tell."

"Well yeah, splitting your brain isn't exactly an everyday event," the boy said, rolling his eyes. Ranko looked back and forth from one to the other with a frown.

"What caused this, then?"

"Our reincarnation," Lina said, as she mirrored Ranko's expression. "I'm supposed to be the only one, but this guy is here too. I've got no idea how that happened. Usually, from what I know of the stuff, I'd have merged with her by now," Lina said as she pointed her thumb at Ranko. "But because he already had, our soul wasn't ready for us to merge. So, it split up into three even parts."

"So? If that's true, shouldn't we have merged again by now?" the boy said, frowning.

"That's true. And it would have, if she were a true reincarnation of you. She'd have had my memories as well as yours. But your soul is different," Lina said, appearing to inspect him. "She's not really your reincarnation, but she _is_ mine. When you merged, you corrupted her soul,"

"Corrupted?" Ranko frowned and glared at the boy, who was holding up his hands.

"Hey hey, don't blame this on me, I didn't choose to be thrown into your head when you were born. Actually, I thought I _was_ you, cause we both had access to my memories."

"Technically, you were both the same person, until I came," Lina said. "Then things went back to how they were supposed to be. But the time you spent merged changed you both."

"Yeah, yeah, so what exactly is this corruption?" Ranko demanded.

"You don't have to sound so angry," the boy said with a yawn. "More importantly though, what would the result of this all be?"

"Well, for one, if I'm right, she shouldn't have access to your memories anymore, nor you hers," Lina said. The two frowned at her then looked at each other, surprised.

"She's right?" They said in unison.

"I can't remember anything beyond my fourth birthday," Ranko said with a frown.

"I can remember some things after that, but it's hazy…" The boy replied, mirroring his expression. He looked over at Lina. "So wait, does this mean that she's a different personality now?"

"She always has been. Neither of you were aware of it, though, because of the unity of your memories. I think." The sorceress had a contemplative expression on her face.

"Ah… I see…" the boy said with a nod.

"I don't get it," Ranko said with a frown. "What the heck is going on?"

"In other words, we thought we were the same person because we had the same memories." The boy said. "That wasn't true, though." He frowned and looked at Lina. "How do you know all of this stuff?"

"Oh, it's all old theory, and some guess work." Lina said casually. "I've never really extensively researched reincarnation though, nothing beyond what was required at the guild…"

"I see," the boy frowned as he looked at her. "One more thing. How the hell are you real?" Lina rolled her eyes.

"The same way you are."

"Right," He nodded, not getting anything out of her answer. "So now that we've decided what's wrong, what should we do?"

"I dunno, I've never really died before," Lina said with a shrug. "I'm not exactly an expert on anything that goes beyond theory. Most people wouldn't be."

"Ah. Yes, of course."

"I still think you're both crazy," Ranko said as she watched them with a frown. "How the hell do I know this isn't some dream, anyway?"

"You don't," Lina said with a shrug. "It could be a dream."

"If that was true, then the two of you would be fake, not me and Lina," the boy said with a frown.

"I dunno abo-

-

Ranko sat up, wide awake. She blinked and looked around the room.

"…It was a dream." Ranko shrugged and looked over at the clock on the wall. It read 6:28 AM. It was almost time to wake up anyway, so there was no point in going to sleep. "Man, that was just creepy."

--

It was Monday afternoon, and the kids were all at school. Genma sat in the dojo with a look of intense concentration on his face as he focused his inner energies and mumbled something under his breath. Ryoga stood in the doorway with his arms cross, and an interested look on his face as he watched the master martial artist continue what appeared to be meditation.

"What are you doing?" The teen asked as he tilted his head. Genma stopped mumbling and answered without turning to look at the boy.

"I'm developing a new technique," the older man said in a gruff voice. "That magic stuff that the girl does, it works for her, but I noticed a few flaws in it…"

"Flaws?" The boy said as he walked into the dojo. "What kind of flaws?"

"It requires the user to invoke certain energies other than Chi. Like Chi, however, it's something that's easier to build up when you're younger," the old man explained.

"So for older guys like you, just picking up and learning it isn't possible," Ryoga said with a nod.

"Hmph. It's possible, but much harder," Genma said as he straightened his glasses. "Watch." The older man held up a hand and Ryoga saw a familiar swirl of orange energy gathering in his palm, but it was much, much smaller than he was used to seeing. "Fireball!" The man cried out dramatically as he made a throwing motion with the ball of magic. The ball crashed into a dummy that Ryoga hadn't noticed earlier, but instead of incinerating it as Ranko's much larger Fireball had, the fireball merely impacted with a small explosion. The effect was visible; there was a charred hole about the size of a basketball where his attack had hit it, but the rest of the thing remained untouched.

"I didn't know you could do that,"

"Didn't she tell you it's a family art?" Genma snorted.

"Oh, then why haven't you taught Ranma?"

"I wanted to focus on his Chi manipulation abilities," The stocky man said indignantly. "It wouldn't have been efficient to split his focus and have him half as good at either art." Ryoga snorted at that, familiar with the elder Saotome's deceitful ways.

"Right, so what are you going to do to fix that?" The boy asked.

"I have found that it is possible to somewhat imitate the effect of that attack with Chi," the man said calmly. "Unfortunately, there is an element missing that I have been unable to figure out."

"What can you do so far?" The boy asked.

"You ask so many questions, but I suppose this is good review," Genma said as he stood up. "Perhaps it would not hurt to show you." The man braced himself and held up his hands in front of him, with his fingers bent at different angles. Ranma found that the pose was somewhat reminiscent of what he'd seen martial artists in Anime do when firing those over-exaggerated ki blasts, but a little bit more complicated. His fingers being bent at different angles probably had something to do with how the technique worked.

Genma started gathering his energy around his entire body. The older man's battle aura suddenly became visible, and Ryoga took a step back out of surprise.

"A visible Battle Aura…" He shook his head. 'I'd underestimated Ranma's old man…'

"This isn't all I can do boy, watch closely!" Genma's battle aura suddenly took on a reddish, orange hue and had the appearance of flames. His entire body appeared to be on fire. "Kaenkyu!" His body's aura suddenly contracted and shot through his hands, and the projected Chi took on the shape of a huge sphere that was at least half as tall as he was, but the ball of red, flaming chi didn't move away from Genma. It stayed attached to his hands rather than flying off like the Fireball had. It dissipated after a second, and Ryoga blinked as he figured out what the problem was.

"You can't send it further than that?" He asked.

"That's right," The older man nodded as he panted and sat back down. "I'm mimicking something else that has been perfected, without seeing how it was originally created. Copying the finished product of something isn't always better than watching someone go through the steps, you see,"

"I get it," Ryoga said. The level of Chi manipulation was beyond his and Ranma's level though, and his respect for his friend's father rose tremendously. 'I wonder what else this old guy knows how to do?'

"And Fireball is only one spell," The older man said as his breathing normalized. "There's several others that I've seen, but haven't even begun to unravel yet."

"I see," The younger man nodded. 'I'd better go practice too.' "Well good luck with that," The teen said calmly as he turned around and walked back towards the door.

"Hm." The older man acknowledged him and continued his meditation.

--

As the Tendo sisters and the Saotome twins walked home, a stick suddenly landed in front of them in the sidewalk. The four blinked at it and noticed the familiar sound of a lit fuse. Ranko's eyes widened as she recognized the stick as an arrow with an explosive attached to it.

"GET BACK!" the red head cried out. Akane immediately grabbed her sister, and the three martial artists jumped into the air just as the thing exploded. When they landed not five meters away, they saw a large crater in the ground, and in the wall that had been on the edge of the sidewalk. "What the hell?! Who's trying to _kill_ us?!"

"Ranma…" Akane growled out as she looked over at her fiancé.

"No one's ever attacked me with that kind of weapon before," He said angrily. "That's just cowardly." Suddenly, they jumped in random directions and a hail of shuriken landed where they were.

"Who the _hell_ set _ninja_ after us!?" Ranko screamed. "We're screwed!"

"Calm down!" Ranma said just as he flipped backwards to dodge another spray of shuriken. "Where are they?" They all looked up and noticed a group of ninja clad in dark brown uniforms on the roof of a nearby house. One was pulling a bow, and released it almost the moment they looked. They all dodged, and unlike the last one which had presumably been faulty, the second arrow exploded upon contact with the ground. "They're up there! We have to get them, come on!"

"Get them?!" Ranko shrieked as she looked at her brother. "Ranma! NINJA! REAL NINJA!" Ranma sighed and shook his head.

"You're blowing this all out of proportion. Come on, use your magic!"

"Oh, that's right, I do know magic," the girl said as she suddenly calmed down. "Raywing!" She screamed as she flew up into the sky… away from the fight.

"You idiot!" Akane screamed as she looked up at the girl.

"You guys want to fight them?" Ranko demanded from her position in the air.

"Um, no thanks," Nabiki said nervously. "I'd like to go home." Ranma grabbed her and roughly pulled her out of the way of some more shuriken.

"I'll take her home," Ranko said as she flew down to the three.

"You'd better come back and make yourself useful..!" Ranma said pointedly.

"You guys focus on attracting the ninjas to an open area or something. The school's football field will work nicely."

"What, so they can attack us where no one is watching? If we give them more space than we already have," Akane said as she gestured the streets around them, before suddenly diving forward. There was an explosion behind her, and she hurriedly stood up and ran over to Ranma.

"You're sitting ducks wherever you are. Here, they can only hit you with projectiles, in an open field, they'll try to use hand-to-hand combat," Ranko said calmly.

"You don't know that!" Ranma shouted. They all jumped away from another explosion, and Ranko continued.

"I've got a plan, when I tell you guys to get away from the field, you jump away as far as you can, as quickly as possible. Go to the field at Furinkan, it's big enough," the girl said.

"You'd better come back," Akane growled. Before they could all say anything else, they noticed an arrow screaming through the air towards them and scattered. Ranko grabbed Nabiki and took to the skies, while Ranma and Akane started backtracking to their school. The two dodged all manner of lethal projectiles on their way back to the school, flipping through the air as shuriken, arrows, and explosive arrows shot past them. 'At least they aren't using guns,' The girl thought with relief. Almost immediately, the two heard the sound of an automatic weapon firing, and just as both teens landed, they rushed over to an alleyway.

As soon as Ranma turned to look at the street they had been on, the familiar sparks of bullets hitting the ground splashed all across the pavement.

"What kind of ninja uses guns!?" the boy roared furiously.

"I think I jinxed us," Akane said regretfully.

"Oh man, thanks a lot, Akane," Ranma said, his voice tinged with nervousness and anxiety. "We've got to find some other way to the school now. Come on!" Ranma said as he took off running down the street, and Akane moved to follow him almost instantly. They turned into an alley just as the bullets started up again. "They have guns now. Ranko didn't see that coming. If we just run out to a field, they'll just gun us down, even worse than they would have anyway…" The boy said. "We have to figure out a different strategy, but Ranko doesn't know about it." They came out on the other end of the alley and turned on the street, only going for a small distance before they turned into the next alley.

"That sucks," The girl said. "What should we do?"

"I'm not sure. I've never fought guns before," The boy said nervously as they stopped for a breather in the middle of the alley.

"We need to figure something out, just running around isn't going to help us!"

"I know, Akane! I know!" The boy was looking around. "They're coming!" He quickly gathered the girl in his arms and leapt towards the end of the alley just as a spray of shuriken, arrows, and bullets all rained down on where they had been standing. "Oh man, they're really trying to kill us!" He said as he landed and started running, not bothering to set the girl down. She looked over his shoulder and screamed. Vaguely humanoid shapes made of silvery metal that had a streamlined look to them were following after them, hovering in the air.

"Ranma, they've got robots!"

"Robots _and_ gun toting ninjas, what the hell is next?!" The sound of a rocket flying through the air met their ears and both turned their heads in the direction it was coming from. With a surge of desperation, Ranma's legs lit up with chi, and the boy launched into the air, flying straight up over two stories to land on one of the buildings on the street. Before they even landed, the missile had reached it's destination, and the sound of an explosion reached their ears from below. As they landed on the roof, Ranma took quick stock of the area and noticed a door that lead downstairs into the building. The two ran over and crouched down, hiding in the shadows of the door.

"Your sister was right, we're screwed," Akane said miserably.

"I don't think this can get any worse," Ranma agreed. Suddenly, on a reflex, his hand shot up over his shoulder, and he felt it connect with someone's face. There was a garbled groan as a ninja garbed in brown fell over his shoulder. Ranma looked at the unconscious ninja and blinked. "Hey, he's got stuff." Ranma quickly took the kunai that had been in the Ninja's hand and put it in his pocket. There was a sheathed Katana strapped to the man's back, and he took it and the pouches full of shuriken and kunai as well. As Ranma searched him for remaining weapons, Akane looked around without being too obvious to see if there was anything else on the roof with them.

"Did your pop teach you how to use these?" Ranma asked as he held up a bow and some shuriken. "I can, but you should be armed too." The girl nodded and accepted the bow, while looking for arrows. There were two different quivers; one with regular arrows, and one with arrows that had circular objects at the heads instead of normal arrowheads.

"These must be those explosives they were using," the girl said. She strapped both of them around her right shoulder and held the bow in her left. "What's the plan?"

"I don't have one yet," Ranma said as he finished tying the ninja's hands together with steel wire that he'd found on the man. He was satisfied when the wire bit into the Ninja's flesh, and started bleeding slightly. He ripped the rest of the wire off and put it in a pocket. Just as he stood up, three ninjas landed on the roof and started throwing more shuriken at them. Ranma reacted by jumping up and dodging most of the projectiles, while deflecting the ones he couldn't with the katana. Akane reached up and retrieved an arrow, then quickly let it fly at the three.

The arrow exploded upon reaching its destination, sending the three ninja flying off of the building, and Ranma stared at Akane.

"I-I grabbed the w-wrong kind," she stuttered.

"Akane," Ranma started. "Come on, let's go," He ran over and grabbed her. "These people started trying to kill us first. I don't think we should exactly go around with genocide on our minds, but just injuring them isn't going to stop some of them, and we can't afford not to be serious," He said in a grim voice.

"I-I know…" The girl said quietly. Ranma nodded and let go of her hand as he ran towards the edge of the building and jumped off. Not a second later, Akane followed after him.

--

Ranko landed swiftly at the Tendo dojo and set Nabiki down on the ground gently. She ran into the dojo and shouted out.

"Father! Ranma and Akane are being attacked by Ninja!" The girl said urgently. Genma immediately looked up at her from where he was with a look of shock on his face.

"Ninja? Are you absolutely certain?"

"You haven't done anything to piss any Ninja off, have you?" Ranko asked angrily.

"Not that I can remember…" The old man said as he strained his mind. He'd remember pissing off Ninja, that was for sure.

"Well, what should we do?"

"How many Ninja were there?" Genma asked seriously.

"I could see maybe five from where I was, but there were several more in hiding," she said. Genma snorted and waved it aside.

"If it's just a single clan of Ninjas, Ranma can handle it," He started to calm himself down and go into meditation again.

"W-what? _Ranma can handle it_?!" She nearly screeched. "What part of _NINJA_ do you _NOT_ understand!?" the girl demanded.

"Oh calm down, Ranma's handled worse before,"

"Not yet he hasn't," the girl grumbled. "Fine, you sit here you big coward, I'll go help him fight the ninjas myself!" She said as she ran out of the dojo. Within moments, she was a dot in the sky.

"People are going to notice her flying around like that," Nabiki said casually as she turned towards the door and started walking.

--

Within moments, Ranko was above the familiar field of Furinkan High. Unfortunately, there was no sign of neither Ranma nor Akane, and no big group of ninja to blow up with one spell. As she turned her head around, she managed to notice an area in the city with large explosions, and automatically assumed that was where they were.

"What the hell? They're moving _away_ from the field! And why are there that many explosions?"

"I can answer that," came a familiar snide voice from behind her. Ranko grunted and turned around in the air with her hands behind her head. There before her floated Hikaru Gosunkugi.

"You must be the one who's causing all of that nonsense," she said levelly.

"Perhaps," the cloaked sorcerer said with a sneer. "Whatever the case may be, I have you to myself again, and Ranma will not save you this time,"

"Save me?" She snorted. "Ranma saved you that time, trust me." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as a cold expression set on her face.

"Oh? Is that so?" The man asked with a sneer. The three long scars running up his face added a certain malicious quality to his face. His sneer turned into a scowl as his own eyes narrowed. "Let's begin, shall we?" He said as he held up a hand with a blue sphere of energy. "Freeze Lance!" The blue energy elongated into a lance and he threw it at her.

"Geez, right to the chase, aren't you?" the girl grumbled as she dodged by suddenly flying much lower. Gosunkugi snorted as he followed after her. "What the hell do you want with me, anyway?!"

"You'll find out soon enough," Gosunkugi glared at her and held up his left hand. Blue magical energy swirled around before forming into a solid, translucent lance. He threw the lance down at her with visible effort and Ranko eeped, barely dodging the attack once again by moving her body to the side. The projectile curved upwards a bit and cleaved a small cleft in the earth instead of impacting it dead away.

"Exactly when do you plan on telling me?! After I'm dead?!"

"Precisely," Gosunkugi said with a dark smile. "Ly Briem!" The dark teenager held his hands up into the air and a blast of freezing wind flew from his hands towards Ranko. The redhead's eyes widened in shock.

'He's getting serious,' She thought. She quickly turned and increased her flying speed down towards the ground. The girl landed on the school's gym and jumped off just in time for the icy winds to hit the roof. The roof was entirely frozen over in seconds. Ranko turned back long enough to see the effects of the spell. 'I can't compete with that level of magic! Damn it!'

"This is the end for you, Lina Inverse!" Ranko winced and jumped up in time to dodge a multitude of icicle lances that would have skewered her sideways, front, back, diagonally and top to bottom. She winced and turned to face the source of the voice. Gosunkugi was standing there with a grin and a blue glow about his hands. 'I don't have any choice but to use something more destructive than even fireball.'

"You've asked for it then," Ranko said. 'Think, think… something good enough to… kill… this guy!'

'Val Flare should do it.' Ranko didn't even blink at the other voice that went through her mind, distracted as she was.

'I've never used it outside of practice before, but it should work,' She agreed, thinking it was her own idea.

A few feet away, Gosunkugi grinned and he started walking towards Ranko, preparing for another ice spell. "Any last words, Inverse?" His tone held a smug note to it that was certain to piss her off. As he neared her, though, he noticed her lips moving and heard her mumbling something beneath her breath. He frowned as she suddenly looked up at him with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah," She started as a stylized bow made of energy appeared in her hands. "Eat this! Val Flare!" She pulled the bowstring back and a red arrow made of pure fire energy appeared, set in the bow, and she let go. Gosunkugi scowled and jumped away as quickly as he could in order to let the projectile fly behind him, and right into the wall of the gym. There was a deafening explosion as the arrow collided with the wall, and both Ranko and Gosunkugi were blown off of their feet from the explosive force.

--

Ranma swore again as he flipped over a hail of bullets with Akane right behind him. The girl nocked an explosive arrow in her bow and fired it at the robots that were shooting at them. The arrow exploded and took out a few of the robots with it. Shrapnel flew this way and that, and Ranma had to dodge it as well as shuriken and the other projectiles. The two started leaping across the rooftops again,

"We're doing too little damage," Akane said. "We have to escape somehow!"

"I'm trying, Akane, really, I am!" He jumped up onto another building. "Damn, it, first thing I'm doing when we get home is getting her to teach me how to fly!"

"Me too," The Tendo girl agreed. The two noticed a Shinto Shrine.

"Kongosoha!" A familiar voice cried out nearby and both teens turned to see a man with long white hair and archaic red clothes swinging a huge sword in their direction. They both jumped to the side in order to dodge the hail of lethal looking spikes that shot out of his sword and into the crowd of robots and ninja. The Ninja and robots were all taken by surprise, and only a few of them managed to dodge the widespread attack. The few Ninja that survived the hailing of spikes all took quick stock of the figure in red before running away. Their robotic antagonists, however, continued the assault, letting loose a volley of missiles towards the new target.

"Watch out!" Ranma cried out a warning to his would-be red clothed savior, and the silver haired man frowned before launching his own attack again.

"Kongosoha!" The various projectiles all collided in the air, and the robot's missiles exploded. The figure in red's eyes widened a bit in surprise at the explosions, and he looked over at Ranma. "What the hell is going on here? What are those things!?"

"I have no idea," Ranma said. "But-" Before he could finish his thought, the robots let loose another volley of machine gun fire, and the three teens all scattered. Ranma growled as he leapt into the air and a glowing ball of light appeared in his hands.

"Fireball!" He launched the projectile at one of the robots, but the explosion was small compared to one of Ranko's and only the target robot was affected. Parts of its midsection were blown off completely, and other parts of it had melted together. But despite its seemingly debilitating injuries, the robot continued to function. It suddenly started flying towards Ranma in a haphazard motion, and Ranma jumped away as he realized what it was doing. The robot exploded upon crashing into the ground, and the force from the blast sent Ranma flying even further than he'd intended to go.

"Those aren't even alive, how can they be fighting? What are they, some kind of golem?" The man in red was speaking seriously to Akane, who happened to land next to him.

"They're robots!" She said incredulously, somewhat surprised by his inquiry.

"Robotto?" Akane's eyes widened as she realized that he honestly had no idea what she was talking about. She noticed his form of dress and realized that he probably didn't get out very much.

"They're artificial beings made of metal, but they're not supposed to be this advanced yet. This is a huge advancement from what I know of robots," She admitted.

"Artificial beings?"

"You said golems earlier, that'll work," She said. He nodded.

"So they won't just die by normal means then,"

"Which is why we were running from them," Akane said. The two suddenly jumped in separate directions to dodge another stream of bullets from the few remaining robots.

"I'm no good at running away!" Hey suddenly leapt at one of the robots and cleaved it in half at what would be the waist with his huge sword. Akane's eyes widened as she watched him cut through what was assuredly strong metal with his strange looking sword.

"Maybe we do have a chance then,"

--

"Damn, that hurt a lot," a familiar male voice said suddenly in her mind.

Ranko's eyes widened in shock at the voice reverberating in her head.

"No! You're not real!" She screamed in defiance at the voice.

"What the hell is she going on about?" the male voice asked, confused.

"I think she hears us now," A familiar feminine voice said.

"I don't believe this! I've gone insane!" Ranko lamented.

"It was only a matter of time," The male voice said cheerfully.

"We can worry about that later, you idiots! That guy is looking at us weird, and we owe him,"

"You're right about that, let's go pay our debts," The male voice said. Ranko's eyes widened again as she felt her body moving against her will. She watched as her hands were used to move the small chunks of rubble that had fallen on them. She stood up and surveyed the area, looking for their enemy. "Heheh, this is awesome! I can move again, rather than just watch!" She started walking back towards the building.

"Stop doing that!" Ranko demanded as she tried to walk on her own. Their combined effort made them trip over their own feet, and fall back down onto the ground.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" The male voice said irritably as Ranko sat back up.

"This is my body, damn it! Stop doing things!" The male voice ignored her as she continued to stand up. "I said stop!"

"Make me!" It demanded as she slapped herself.

"What? How dare you!" Ranko punched herself in the nose, knocking herself back down to the ground.

"You bitch! Take this!" Ranko's fist crashed into the side of her head.

"Stop, you two! This has gone on far enough!" Lina yelled. "Remember where we are, you idiots!"

"What?" Ranko asked as her left hand began to strangle herself. The other one was making a valiant attempt to remove it from their throat as they heard someone chuckle.

"You seem to have forgotten someone," Hikaru's voice came from behind them. Ranko immediately stood up, but before she could turn around, his fist impacted the small of her back. There was a flash of white light before Ranko flew forward and into another wall. The girl's entire body was tingling painfully, but she managed to stand up and turn around, glaring at the sorcerer standing before them. His face and clothes were visibly very burned, and he had a scowl on his face.

'He did something just now!' Ranko blinked at Lina's voice reverberating through her mind. "You! What have you done to me!?"

"Simple, I bound a soul to you," He smirked.

"What? Bound a soul to me?" Ranko asked. The man blinked at her word choice.

"That is correct…" He narrowed his eyes as he studied the girl.

"I don't hear anyone else freakin' out in here," The boy's voice said. Ranko smirked as she looked at the man.

"Your little trick didn't work," She said as she started cracking her knuckles. "Now, it's payback time for that embarrassing little scene!" She jumped at him with a fist cocked back and swung at him. Hikaru easily dodged the attack by stepping aside and laughed.

"That was pathetic. You've gotten worse at fighting."

"Oh yeah? Well try this!" She frowned as she charged him and jumped high into the air to kick him. He merely watched as she flew over him and laughed when she crashed into the pile of wreckage from the gym.

"Well, I can't say I'm impressed," He commented as he patiently waited for her climb back out of the rubble.

"Damn, this body is a lot more powerful than I thought," The male voice said sheepishly as they rubbed their head in pain. "I guess I tried too hard."

"You damn idiot, let me handle this," Ranko growled, standing up. She glared at the grinning Hikaru and leapt out of the rubble, facing him.

"You can't hope to fight me, disoriented as you are," Hikaru snorted as he turned away. "I don't have time to waste on handicapped people."

"Handicap THIS!" Ranko shouted as she flew at him with her fist cocked back yet again. Hikaru's eyes widened as she clocked him, sending him sprawling onto the ground. "Heh! Who's disoriented now?" She taunted as he scrambled back to his feet, glaring at her. The sorcerer narrowed his eyes as he wiped some blood from his mouth.

"You actually hit me," He said in a low voice.

"Yeah, that's what happens when someone throws their fist at you, idiot," She smirked as she took a wide stance. Hikaru lifted off of the ground without saying the name of his spell and frowned at her from the air. "What, you want to fight up there? I'm fine with that too," she said as she prepared to join him in the sky.

"Hmmm… let's have fun, Lina Inverse."

"Stop calling me that!" She demanded as he became enshrouded in a bubble of pure darkness and vanished. She turned her head to the side and frowned. "That guy is definitely becoming troublesome. I've got to figure out what to do about him," she muttered.

"There is not much you can do, Lina Inverse," The voice taunted from all around her.

"Hmph. Sure there is," the girl said calmly. In her head, two people were confused.

"What can I do? He's invisible!" The body's original owner demanded.

"Watch," The boy said as he closed their eyes.

"We can't see anything!" Lina said agitatedly.

"Shut up, I'm trying to focus… there!" The boy suddenly opened their eyes and jumped up with a fist held back. "Fireball!" He threw his fist forward and the fireball flew straight up into the sky… and didn't stop, or crash into any invisible sorcerers.

"…And what was that?" Lina asked heatedly. "You wasted energy and made us look like an idiot."

"Trust me, this will work," the boy said. "Now…"

"I assume that was supposed to amuse me in some way," the voice of Hikaru said from infront of them. "I must admit it was slightly humorous."

"Ah ah ah, but the fun's only begun," the girl said.

"And what, do you mean, by that? Are you going to waste my time?"

"No," the girl said as she crossed her arms. The fire ball suddenly fell down onto Hikaru, slamming him towards the ground and then detonating when it finally touched down. Ranko quickly ran over to where the fireball had detonated, intent on finishing the fight. However, when she got there, there was no Gosunkugi to be seen.

"As much fun as this all was, it seems we won't be alone much longer," Gosunkugi's voice came from all around her. "Another time, then, Inverse."

"Hey! Come back, you slimy bastard!" She said this just as some sirens became audible. "Damn it, he's starting to annoy me!"

"You mean us," the male voice piped in.

"She's right, though," Lina remarked, annoyed. "He is going to be a big problem. And we still don't know how he knows about us,"

"Ugh…" Ranko groaned and held her head.

"Hey, yeah, that's right. You don't suppose he's a reincarnation too, do you?" The male voice suggested.

"It's possible, but who would from then hated us that much?" Lina asked curiously.

"You were an infamous bandit-killing city-destroyer, pretty much everyone," The male said calmly.

"Hey, I saved the world a few times, damn it! Give me some credit for that!" Lina yelled back.

"Fine, you were a heroic bandit-killing city-destroyer, you happy now?"

"You bastard-"

"Both of you just shut up," Ranko said angrily. "Neither of you should be real. One of you is or was me, and the other is from a comic book or something, I can't remember."

"Well, actually, both of us used to be you, and vice versa," Lina reminded her.

"Shut up, I said!"

"You can't make us," the male voice said, mentally scoffing at her attempt.

"If you don't, I'll…" Ranko trailed off as she realized there wasn't much she could do to a voice that was in her head.

"You'll what? Yeah, that's right, shut the hell up," The male voice sneered. Ranko scowled and punched herself in the face. "Ow! You bitch!" Ranko bit her tongue and slapped herself again.

"You little bastard, this is my body, I won't give it up to the likes of you!"

"I can do whatever I want," The two continued to brawl. Lina growled and used her own power to try and stop their body from hurting itself, but was only able to stop one of them at a time.

"You idiots! Ow! Stop already!" The girl suddenly registered the sound of sirens in the distance and stopped fighting herself. "What's that noise?"

"It's, ah…" Ranko looked over the gym and noticed that it was on fire from the Val Flare she had shot at Gosunkugi. "Oh boy…"

--

Ranma stood above the last of the robots, panting. His clothes were cut up and he was bloody from close encounters with shuriken and regular arrows. The robot beneath him was a melted hunk of metal, having first been attacked by a fireball, dismantled before it could kamikaze on him, then melted again. Ranma glanced to his side when he noticed Akane and the strange man in red approach him.

"That was a work out," The man in red said from behind him. "What the hell was going on here, anyway?"

"I wish I knew," Ranma said, turning to look at their unexpected assistance. "My fiancé, her sister, my sister and I were all walking home when all of a sudden, Ninja and Robots attack."

"Nevermind how odd and impossible seeming _that_ combination is," Akane muttered.

"Those Robotto things don't attack people often, do they? I've never seen them before," The silver haired teen said. Ranma blinked as he noticed something familiar about the white haired-man.

"Inuyasha!" The three all turned to see a girl running towards them. "What happened here?"

"I saw these two being attacked by a crowd and decided to even the odds a little," Inuyasha said. "There were Ninja and something called Robotto," Kagome blinked and looked at the other two.

"We're not too sure what happened either, what he said covers it pretty much," Ranma said. He finally connected the name and the person, then looked over at Inuyasha. "You, you were there last night!" Inuyasha blinked at him before suddenly recognizing him as well. "What happened to your hair?"

"None of your business," Inuyasha snapped. "But what are you doing here? And what happened to that girl? I want to talk to her,"

"We were running from those guys," Ranma frowned. "And my sister split up with us so she could take my fiance's sister home and away from the Ninja."

"Wouldn't she have just been followed?" Inuyasha asked.

"She can, er, fly," Ranma said. Akane frowned at him, but it faded when she noticed that the two before them were only mildly surprised.

"Why didn't they help?"

"My sister is a non-combatant, and Ranko didn't know we would be coming this way. We had a plan worked out before we split up, but things changed and we had to abandon the plan…" Akane looked over at Ranma. "We should probably hurry on over to the school, she's got to be worried about us."

"Right," Ranma looked over at Inuyasha and the other girl again. "Uh, thanks, again."

"Whatever," Inuyasha snorted. "Just go."

"Hmph, fine," Ranma turned to face Akane. "Akane, let's go," He said. The girl nodded and both leapt away onto a nearby rooftop, then continued going.

"What was that about, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha turned to look at the girl standing beside him and frowned.

"I have a bad feeling, like something has started," Inuyasha said. "Those guys may not turn out to be our friends later, so why get attached now?"

"You still don't have to be rude to them. It may be a long time before we see them again,"

"I hope we don't ever meet up again at all," Inuyasha said with a frown.

--

When Ranma and Akane approached Furinkan, they noticed smoke in the direction of the gym. When they got there, it had already been swamped by the authorities. Firefighters were fighting what looked like a losing battle against a fire that enveloped most of the Gym by then, three police officers were separately talking to civilians, and a news crew was on the scene, with the reporter speaking into her microphone and looking at the camera, occasionally gesturing at the blazing fire in the distance.

"Well that's not something you see everyday," Ranma frowned. "What the hell happened here?"

"Not much, just an altercation between two experienced spellcasters," Ranko cut in. The two turned and noticed the girl walk up to them. Her school clothes were all torn up, and her body was covered in bruises and other dirt marks. Her brother and best friend immediately ran over to her, concern on their faces.

"Ranko! Are you all right?"

"I'm just peachy," the girl muttered. "What happened to you guys, though? I know you didn't abandon my plan for no reason," She said with a frown.

"They brought out machine guns and robots," Ranma said with a serious look. Ranko's face paled in shock.

"The Ninjas had guns, you mean? And robots?" Both Ranma and Akane nodded. "What the hell…"

"I know, we were confused too," The other two said. "We have no idea where they came from or who sent them, and why they're trying to kill us." Ranma added.

"This is very bad. They'll probably try to make an attack on us later, when we're vulnerable," Ranko said, calming down and focusing a bit. "We need to find out what the hell is going on here. Not to mention Cologne and Shampoo…" She muttered the last part under her breath, and Ranma blinked.

"Shampoo and who?"

"Nothing," Ranko said, waving it away. "Let's go home already. I'm tired, beaten and hungry, and staying here won't solve anything." The other two nodded at that and with one last look at the raging fire behind them, they started the walk home. "Tell me more about what happened on your end…"

--

That night, Ranko sighed and stared up at the ceiling from her futon.

'This whole thing has been shot to hell. Ninja and Robots attacking out of nowhere, Gosunkugi becoming a magical tank… Then Inuyasha and Kagome appear. Exactly what has happened here?' She shook her head. 'Just waiting for stuff to happen isn't going to work. I'm going to have to beef us all up. Ranma will have his speed training, Ryouga can have the bakusai tenketsu training, then I'll teach both of them the Shishi Hokodan and Ranma the Hiryu Shoten Ha… And I'm going to stop by home to look for that Umisenken Scroll, too. But how am I going to explain it all… No, that can wait. Getting everyone ready for whatever the hell is happening to us comes first. But the Amazon techniques, those I'll really have to think up an excuse for…' Brian's voice rambled on in her mind.

'What about magic?' Lina asked. 'We can teach them that too,'

'Their magic just won't be as effective as mine…yours…ours… whatever.'

'That will come with time, so we can't just skimp on that,'

'What is this about Shishi Hokodan and Hiryu Shoten Ha and what what?' Ranko asked, concernedly. Before, whenever such things were brought up, she would just immediately remember them from the Manga, but now, she had no prior knowledge of the entire Ranma ½ series, or what was to come in the future anymore. When that knowledge had finally set in, she had been left with only a foreboding feeling and the knowledge that many bad, powerful things were to come.

'Advanced Chi Techniques. Hey, You and Akane can probably learn them too, since you're both near Ranma's level,'

"Ranko, are you all right?" Ranko turned her head and looked over at her brother, who was lying on his own futon between hers and Genma's.

"I'm fine, Ranma. Go to sleep." Ranma mumbled something under his breath and the girl returned to her thoughts. 'I'm not near Ranma's level at Martial arts.' She frowned.

'You could hand any normal blackbelt his ass,' Brian snorted. 'Both of you can manifest a battle aura. That's all it takes, I think. And anyone, even a small, untrained child, as long as they have the mental conditioning and ability to dodge, can use the Hiryu Shoten Ha, but it's extremely useful. It uses the foe's own chi against them, so the stronger your opponent is-'

'As interesting as that explanation may be, save it for later,' Lina said. 'I'm hurt, tired, and cranky, damn it, let me sleep already!'

'Fine. In the morning, then.'

--

(OO)


End file.
